


Eyes of Spring Green

by Chocolex122



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Sakura, BAMF Shikamaru, Eventual mature scenes, F/F, F/M, M/M, Uhchiha hatred, Underage - Freeform, Violence, hatake pack, idk what else to put., slight slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:02:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27578884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chocolex122/pseuds/Chocolex122
Summary: “So, you hate me?”“Why would I hate something that Means nothing to me?”~~~~~~Haruno Sakura spent the early days of her childhood pinning after superficial love. Hoping that special boy she held dear to her heart would take the time out of his day to just smile at her.Then it happened. It was a sudden epiphany, the timing may have not been the best but realization saved her in the end. As she stared at Uchiha Sasuke neck deep in the earth glaring right at her. She came to the conclusion that Uchiha Sasuke ain’t shit.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/ Nara Shikamaru
Comments: 128
Kudos: 773





	1. Epiphany

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, 
> 
> To those who have clicked on this story. Hey, how you doing?
> 
> So basically, I’m an active writer on Wattpad, but I also wanted to get my work on here as well.
> 
> This is a Sakura centric fanfic that I had been thinking about for a a long time. Especially after reading Pulling My Weight.
> 
> I just craved a Bamf Sakura fic with a Bamf Shikamaru to compliment it. I’ve been obsess with a Shikamaru x Sakura but alas I didn’t many. So I decided to do it myself. So here we are.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it.

Sakura refused to admit it took her near an hour to figure out that she was trapped in Genjutsu. It was too embarrassing to admit out loud.

Slowly pushing herself up from the ground she looked around the forest and found herself alone. Looking up at the sky she noted it was nearly noon. 

_Aww! I won’t have a chance to even try getting a bell!_

She couldn’t keep the pout off her face as she looked around the forest once again. Grumbling silently she began her trek through the thicket in the vague direction of the three posts. 

As she soon came across another clearing she didn’t stop to look around. The longer she stewed on it the more she came to the depressing conclusion that even if she had a chance to try, she wouldn’t be able to do much as touch the Jounin.

In response, she threw her head back and groaned at the sky.

Her frustration with herself came to halt when a grunt of: “Sakura,” drew her attention.

She froze mid-step and snapped her head around. There, buried neck deep, glaring right at her was no other than Uchiha Sasuke. 

She stared at him owlishly. Blinked three times as he continued to glare at her. Slowly she brought her hand to her head that began to ache.

“Sasuke-kun?” She knew she was no longer in a genjutsu but the feeling of her heart constricting in her chest and shock of seeing him almost made her faint again.

“Get me out of here!” He demanded and Sakura felt her brow twitch. 

Sasuke-kun. 

For once as she looked at him, she felt nothing but frustration towards her teammate. 

Why was he stuck like that? It was pitiful. He was Uchiha Sasuke, number one rookie. He should be better than that. Better than a head sticking out of the ground.

Then her frustration at the situation changed, because if she was truly thinking about it. It was unfair for her to hold him on this high pedestal. He was only twelve after all. 

_“Because … you’re annoying.”_

She couldn’t keep the grimace off her face as his voice filtered into her head. 

Why couldn’t he show her the time of day? Why couldn’t he just smile at her? Why couldn’t he just try a bit more?

She stopped her thoughts. That was unfair and irrational. So she stood there for another moment and tried to rationally pick apart her frustrations.

Her frustration wasn’t towards him, well not completely, but towards herself. “Damnit.”

“Sakura,” he grunted again. 

She fixed her spring green eyes on him once again as he struggled to try to pull himself out of the hole. She blinked at him again before looking back up at the sky. Noon was fast approaching. She could see he had noticed it too as his struggles doubled.

“Get me out,” he snapped and Sakura scowled.

He’s better than everyone else, isn’t he? Can’t he just get himself out? The longer she watched him, the more it became apparent that he couldn’t.

That’s when it hit her.

Was he really worth it? Was vying for his attention really worth it? Was he truly worth being the base of her whole ninja carrier?

A little voice at the back of her head whispered out a quiet, “No.”

Just as she opened her mouth the buzzing of the alarm filter into her ear.

They had failed.

Sasuke let out a frustrated grunt, “Why are you so useless?!”

Sakura recoiled like she had been slapped.

_Useless?_

_Why are you so useless?_

_Useless…_

_USELESS_

_WHY ARE YOU SO USELESS?!_

_WHY ARE YOU SO ANNOYING?!_

_Why?_

_Why?_

_Why?_

Sakura’s breath hitched as she blinked at Sasuke. “Ah,” she started and continued with a coldness she never let loose. “If I’m so _useless_ , I'm sure you can get yourself out just fine,” She sneered before turning on her heel and marching away leaving Sasuke buried neck-deep.

When she came upon the three posts she found Kakashi-sensei tying Naruto to the middle post. She said nothing as she sat down against the post next to them. Kakashi-sensei turned his eye towards her.

“Sakura-Chan,” he began with a close eyed smile and Sakura almost scowled. “I see you found your way out of my Genjutsu.”

She remained silent, he didn’t seem bothered by that as he changed the topic, “Where is Sasuke?”

“I’m sure he’s exactly where you left him,” she snapped, turning her gaze away, ignoring Naruto’s loud whining.

Kakashi raised a brow. That didn’t sound like the Uchiha obsessed genin he met yesterday. Deciding not to address it he took off to bring Sasuke back.

Sakura barely looked at them as she picked at the by her feet. She could feel Sasuke’s glare on the side of her face and let out a sigh.

It was followed closely by her stomach growling, her cheeks went up in flame in response. At least Naruto and Sasuke followed suit.

“Uh, oh. Stomach’s growling, huh?” Kakashi-sensei mocked lightly. “That’s too bad.”

Sakura grumbled beneath her breath.

“Oh, by the way, about this exercise? I’ve decided I won’t send any of you back to the academy. “

Sakura felt her stomach drop lower than it already had. There was a sadistic glee in Kakashi-sensei's gaze. It made her hesitate, unlike Naruto who brightened.

_There’s no way I passed, all I did was faint and fall over. I couldn’t even identify a stupid genjutsu. I really am useless, aren’t I?_

“Yay!” Naruto cheered squirming in his bindings. “We passed!”

“Yes. All three of you are being dropped from the program entirely.”

Sakura nearly burst into tears right then and there. 

“Drop us from the program?!” Naruto bellowed as Sakura brought her knees to her chest attempting to make herself as small as possible. “That means we can never become a ninja. You said if we couldn’t take the bells we’d be sent back to the academy. You can’t just change your mind and kick us out! Why would you do that?!”

Kakashi sensei placed his hand on his hips, “Because you don’t think like a ninja, you think like little kids. Like brats.”

Sakura heard Sasuke growl before he launched himself at Kakashi-sensei.

“What are-!” She started cutting herself off as Kakashi pinned the Uchiha to the ground, sat atop his back with one foot pressing the genin’s head into the ground. His left hand pinning Sasuke’s hands behind his back.

“You think it’s all about you!”

Sakura kept her mouth shut as she watched on alongside Naruto.

Kakashi turned to look at the two remaining Genin, “You don’t know what it means to be a ninja,” he began seriously. “You think it’s a game, huh?”

Sakura felt her face crumple.

“Why do you think we put you on squads? Did you consider that question for one moment?

_What? What did he mean by that?_

Slowly the gears in her head started turning. Function. It was all about function. A team needed to function together to stay alive and find success.

She suddenly wanted to throw herself off a cliff and screech at her stupidity 

“Functionality,” She mumbles to herself. Kakashi snapped in her direction.

“What was that?”

“F-functionality,” She stammered out shyly, yanking anxiously at her hair. “A ninja squad must function, like a well-oiled machine. If a gear is ill-fitted or rusting, the whole machine is useless.”

_USELESS_

_Why are you so USELESS?!_

  
  


Kakashi fixed her with a look before nodding sharply, “You see, Sakura’s got it, albeit much too late.”

“What?” Naruto yelled. “What does a machine have to do with anything?!”

“The point of this exercise! What it’s about!” 

“What it’s about?” Naruto asked dumbly the wires having yet to cross in his brain. 

“Yes, that’s what determines whether you pass or fail.” 

_I’m such an idiot,_ Sakura thought sadly. She looked at Sasuke and Naruto before frowning. 

_The question is if I had figured it out earlier, would they have even listened to me?_

“Teamwork, Naruto. The test was about teamwork,” she put in softly bringing the boy to realization. “That’s why we’re put on three-man squads.” 

“Point to Pinky-Chan,” Kakashi pointed at Sakura in confirmation. “The most basic point.” 

Naruto and Sasuke both grunted in surprise, while Sakura looked off sadly. 

“S-So we just had to work together?” Naruto choked out, his face paling quicker as realization finally set in. 

“That’s what I mean. It’s too late now. But if all three of had come at me, you might have been able to take them,” he sat up straighter causing Sasuke to grunt at his weight, “Well,” he shrugged his shoulders, “anyway, it’s over.” 

_But, there were only two bells. How was that-_ she paused at the thought. She couldn’t stop herself from facepalming at her sheer stupidity. 

_Why are you so stupid Sakura?! He did it on purpose, of course, he did. Ugh! Why couldn’t you see that?_

_Stupid._

_Useless._

_Stupid._

Kakashi cocked a brow at his pink-haired student, “Something to say, Pinky-Chan?” 

“You set it up with three people and only two bells. You purposely pitied us against each other,” Sakura rubbed at her forehead. 

“Exactly, another point to Pinky-Chan,” Kakashi nodded once again at the pink hair genin, who as time went on showed intelligence he thought she lacked. Too bad it was too late. “I wanted to see if you could overcome that inner conflict and put the squad ahead of yourselves. A genin should have a natural feel for teamwork. But it never even crossed your minds.” 

He turned his sharp gaze towards her and she flinched shamefully, “Sakura you obsessed about Sasuke who was gone, while Naruto was right in front of you.” 

Sakura glared at the ground for a moment. 

Obsessed? Is that what she was? Obsessed with a boy who never once smiled in her direction. Who never once gave her the time of day. 

_“Why are you so useless?!”_

_“Because …you’re annoying.”_

_Useless._

_Stupid._

_Annoying._

She snapped out her spiralling thoughts when Kakashi-sensei snapped out, “Sakura! Kill Naruto or Sasuke dies!” He held a perfectly sharpened kunai to his throat. 

The great Uchiha Sasuke, reduced to nothing in a matter of seconds. 

_Why should I care?_ The deep-rooted resentment aimed for the raven-haired genin reared its ugly head. A resentment that grew in strength every time the boy sniffed down at her and turned his head as if she were nothing. 

As if she were nothing but a fly on the wall. An annoying pesky little fly. 

And for a moment. For a second, she wanted to turn her nose up at him and sniff distastefully. Instead, she snapped, “No!” 

It shocked Naruto who surely thought she would do it. 

“That’s what happens on a mission,” he removed the blade from the Uchiha’s neck and twirled it around his finger. “The enemy takes a hostage and you’ve got an impossible choice. And someone ends up dead.” 

Their sensei stood up putting his kunai back in his weapons pouch. “On every mission, your life is on the line.” 

He began to make his towards a stone monument that Sakura had hardly noticed. It was hard not to, now that it was brought to her attention. 

“Did you look at this stone, the names engraved on it?” Sakura didn’t move her gaze from sensei even as Sasuke stood up from the ground. 

“They are all ninja honoured as heroes in our village.” Sakura stood up to take a closer look keeping a wide birth around her sensei. 

Her eyes widened.

_KIA_

_KILLED IN ACTION_

_NAKASHIMA MARIKO_

_WAKABAYASHI MAMORU_

_MORIOKA KEIICHI_

_INUZUKA TAKUMI_

_TABATA HIDEO_

Her spring green eyes flicked rapidly over the names adding each and everyone to her memory. She didn’t move her gaze from the stone vaguely hearing Naruto claim he wanted his name to be placed on it. 

Her eyes then found a particular name.

_HARUNO KUROU_

Her breath hitched in her throat. 

_Oh_. 

Of course, his name would be on here. Why wouldn’t it be? In silence, she walked up to the stone and ran her thumb softly over his name. 

The Haruno clan wasn’t a Ninja clan by any means, but there were a few who took the shinobi way. 

Kurou was one of them. 

“This is a Memorial Stone, the names of my closest friends are engraved here,” Kakashi-sensei explained somberly. 

Sakura’s fingers continued to trace over Kurou’s name in silence, engraving his name into the pads of her fingers. 

Why did he become a ninja? Was it to pine after some girl? She doubted it. Kurou valued his work as a Shinobi. He loved it. He didn’t care about getting his hands dirty if it meant keeping an innocent’s clean. 

It was always so alien at home without him now. There wasn’t much laughter. Her father still hasn’t packed up his room. Maybe she should pay a visit when she gets home today. 

“Haruno Kurou, family I presume?” Kakashi asked Sakura softly. 

The pink-haired genin nodded slowly, “My cousin, he died about three years ago. Escort mission to the Land of Iron gone wrong.” 

She felt the Jounin’s gaze linger on her fingers before he sighed. “All right, I’m going to give you one more chance,” Sakura felt a swell of optimism rise in her belly. “But I’m going to make it much harder on you, you’ll have three hours to get a bell. Eat lunch now to build up strength. But Naruto doesn’t get any.” 

Long story short. They passed. Simply feeding Naruto food. 

Yet, Sakura didn’t feel like she succeeded at much of anything that day. Instead of going home to tell her parents, she passed. She made a detour deep into the forest on the northern side of the village, where she came upon a tree. 

Sighing she sat in the grass back against the rough bark and looked up at the sky. It was silent as she watched the clouds float by. 

Her jaw clenched as a lump started to form in her throat. Her chest heaved slightly. As she tried to swallow it down. 

It didn’t work. 

She felt her lips start to tremble as tears forced their way out the corner of her eyes. Ducking her head down into her knees, she let out a body shuddering sob. 

_Stupid._

_Annoying._

_Useless._

She didn’t know how long she sat there and cried. It wasn’t until a wet nose poked at her forehead did she snap her head up. She withheld a shriek at the sight of a small baby deer. It looked at her curiously before leaning forward and bumping its nose against her face once again. 

The genin tried to wipe away her tears but they kept coming. The deer didn’t seem to care as it settled on the grass and laid its head on her thigh. She stared at it for a long moment before running the pads of her fingers along with its head. 

Slowly her sobs and sniffles came to halt and she felt much better. 

“It seems he likes you,” a deep voice stated from her left. This time Sakura did shriek. Snapping her head around she was met with a man dressed in a black Yukata. He was tall, with black hair pulled up into a spiky ponytail, dark eyes and goatee. His most prominent feature was the two scars along the right side of his face. 

He held up a placating hand, “Did I scare you? Sorry.” His voice was a deep drawl. Almost lazy. The Sakura looked at him, the more familiar he seemed. 

A Nara. 

“S-sorry, I’m on your land aren’t I?” Sakura mumbled softly, though she did not get up. The deer hadn’t moved and Sakura didn’t want to disturb it. 

He waved her off, “Barely my land, Pinky-chan, the deers own it. My clan just look after it. If they didn’t want you here, you’d be gone already,” he nodded his head to the right. 

Slowly, Sakura looked over to spot a whole herd of deer grazing unbothered. 

_Why hadn’t I noticed them before?_

“Oh,” she mumbled. 

“So, why are you watering the grass with your endless well of tears?” He joked lightly leaning against a tree and Sakura couldn’t help but let loose a tiny snort before her face turned sombre once again. 

“Did you fail your genin test?” 

“No.” 

“Then shouldn’t you be celebrating?” 

Sakura smiled bitterly, “What is there to celebrate about. I did nothing. I was useless,” the urge to break down in tears again was strong but she clenched her fists. “I was stupid and useless and Annoying.” 

The man cocked his head and watched her silently. 

“I’m a stupid girl, with stupid dreams who never learns,” she choked out. “All because of an equally stupid boy who never gave her the time of day.” 

The man scratched her chin, “Ah,” he nodded his head. “I see,” he purses his lips for a moment before looking right at her, no judgement, no pity. “Well, let me tell you this: Only a stupid person lacks the intelligence to realize that are stupid. A smart person will realize they made a stupid decision and learn from it.” 

Sakura nodded lightly looking down at the deer who still laid its head on her thigh. It’s dark eyes slipped closed. 

“You are young. Which means you’re naive, not stupid. Learn and grow, you still have plenty of time for that.” 

He began to walk off and Sakura called out, “Thank you Nara-san.” 

He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder and smirked light slightly at the sudden determination that crossed her features. He waved his hand dismissively, “Inspiring young ninja is part of the job description, Pinky-chan.” 

“Is it okay if I come back here?” 

He shrugged, “I don’t mind, though I wouldn’t recommend that tree. It’s my son’s favourite, far enough from the house to pretend he didn’t hear his mother call for him.” 

With that he waved and disappeared into the trees, leaving Sakura with the beard and swirling thoughts. 

_Naive, not stupid._

_You still have plenty of time._

_Plenty of time to get stronger. Plenty of time. Starting today. I won’t be useless. I won’t be stupid._

_Sasuke isn’t worth it._ She decided with a determined nod. 

Like how Obasan once said about her husband when they separated. _“That boy ain’t shit.”_

_Uchiha Sasuke ain’t shit._

It was about time she learned that

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, to those who clicked on this story I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did leave a comment and maybe a kudos. I’d love to hear thoughts and suggestions. 
> 
> -CHOCOLEX


	2. Conception

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wasn’t expecting the sudden reaction to the first chapter. It really makes me happy. So here’s the next chapter.
> 
> Not as thought heavy, but I still hope you enjoy it.

“Hahaue, Chichiue, I’m home,” Sakura called into the house as she stumbled in, barely able to see over the heavy stack of books she cradled to her chest. After the small deer had finished resting, leaving Sakura with a lick on her cheek, the young genin ran to the nearest library and took out every ninja based book she could get her hands on.

She was met with silence.

“Oh,” she mumbled to herself. They weren’t there. Like they haven’t been for the past two weeks. Her parents had travelled to Suna to meet with some clan members, where they would then travel to Iron.

The Haruno clan were a large clan. Not well known in the shinobi world but known well in any other aspect. 

Jacks of all trades, that is what they were. You’d find them everywhere, traveling in fortune telling caravans, in the land of Iron as Samurai, travelling merchants, actors and singers to shinobi in the hidden villages. They were everywhere, and no, they did not all have ridiculous pink hair. Though they were never normally coloured. It was weird.

Kicking off her sandals she stumbled tiredly up the stairs, dumping the books haphazardly on her bed, she stumbled around her pink room, strippingout of her dress she grabbed her towl and made her way to the washroom. Pausing as she passed by a closed white door. 

Nailed to the white wood was a sign that said : _PLEASE KNOCK BEFORE ENTERING. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY STRAY KUNAI IF YOU DON’T. With love Kurou_.

Her lips twitched up lightly before she left and got cleaned up. When finished she dressed in a pair of pink shorts and a white shirt with cherry blossoms. She made sure to tie her long damp hair into a bun atop her head grabbing the thickest book she had taken out on Chakra and made her way to Kurou’s room.

Subconsciously, she knocked on the door before entering and she was suddenly hit with a wave of sadness.

Nothing had changed. His room could only be described as an organized mess. There were several holes in the walls from stary kunai and shuriken, there were still some embedded into the dark grey walls. A complete contrast to Sakura’s pink coloured walls. His queen sized bed was pushed into the corner of the room right below the window where he had a perfect view of the outside and the door.

On the floor were strewn clothes, weights, kunai, shuriken and ninja sandals. She had to walk carefully so she wouldn’t cut open the bottom of her feet. On the side closer to the door was a bookshelf. Filled to the brim with manga and Icha Icha. She scowled at the last choice, but she wasn't surprised. Kurou was only twenty one after all.

Curious she reached for one of the manga, flipping it open she blinked. Instead of black and white drawings. SHe was met with word upon words, scribbled on blank pages.

A diary?

Sakura could practically see Kurou scowl, snatching the book away, “It’s not a diary!” he would say defensively his cheeks turning as pink as his hair. “I’m man! I don’t keep diaries. I keep journals.”

He may be dead but she wasn’t in the mood to completely invade his privacy.

She sighed sadly. God she missed him. Putting the journal back in place she padded over to his closet. Rummaging through it she pulled out a black hoodie. Shaking it out from the slight dust she slipped it over head before climbing up onto his bed. She made herself comfortable, and cracked open the book.

Basics of Chakra.

Here we go.

The next morning Sakura was exhausted. Her back was killing her and hair decided not to behave either. She had to beat down the pink locks into a tight braid down her back. To so much as look presentable that morning. She had memorized the whole book on chakra and started a book on ninjutsu. Slowly becoming depressed the more she realized that her chakra reserves were pitifully shallow. Though a plus side was that theoretically she had good chakra control.

She could try to expand her chakra reserves but they wouldn’t be close to the size her teammates were on. That means Ninjutsu was never gonna be a strong point for her. But that didn’t mean there weren't other avenues. After ditching the book on Ninjutsu she began a book on Genjutsu and also cut time with one on Taijutsu,

Now that was right up her alley.

Arriving at Training Grounds Seven, at the time Kakashi-sensei had told them. She was dressed like she usually did, the only difference being the black weights she had bound to her legs. They weren’t uncomfortable, but she could feel the heaviness of them. She didn’t start too heavy. The taijutsu book heavily advised against doing.

Sasuke and Naruto were already there, “Good morning,” She greeted blandly Her nose buried in the book on Genjutsu. 

“Good morning, Sakura-chan!” Naruto bellowed back happily.

She smiled slightly at the hyperactive blonde, who for some reason always found a reason to smile at her.

Moving to the opposite side of the training ground she sat against a tree in silence, spring green eyes flicking eagerly over every page soaking up the information like a sponge. 

If she had been paying attention she would have noticed Naruto’s cheeks cooking and Sasuke cocking an annoyed brow. 

Kakshi-sensei didn’t show his face till about two hours later. “Ohiyo,” he greeted with a close eyed smile. 

“You’re Late!” Naruto bellowed. 

Kakashi blinked when he didn’t hear his pink haired genin’s voice overlap with the blondes. “I ran into an old woman struggling to carry her groceries. I was obligated to help.” 

“Liar!” 

“Ano, where’s Sakura-chan?” 

Sasuke and Naruto both pointed in the direction of their pink haired teammate, still seated up against the tree eyes moving rapidly. Body flickering in front of his genin student he crouched in front of her. 

“I am quite offended, Sakura-chan,” he whined lightly, ignoring how the girl spasmed violently at his sudden appearance. 

“Kakashi-sensei, you scared me!” 

“I expected to be greeted enthusiastically by my cute little genins, instead one is more interested in a dead tree than her sensei,” Kakshi-sensei narrowed his eye at the book in her hand. “And it’s not even interesting.” 

The pink haired girl narrowed her eyes, “At least it’s not the glorified porn you walk around reading.’ 

Her comment earned her a playful knock on of a fist on her head. “Do not speak trash about Icha Icha, Sakura-chan, it's a masterpiece. Anway, why are you reading about genjutsu?” 

Sakura felt herself blush, “I want to learn it.” 

Their sensei cocked his head slightly and looked his student in the eye. 

“You want to learn, genjutsu?” 

“H-hai,” she nodded firmly. 

He nodded his head in thought, “We’ll talk more about this later, now put the boring book away and lets start with our first mission.” 

“Hell ya! Dattebayo!” Naruto fist pumped happily. 

Sakura almost cried out in relief when they went to get their pay for the four D-tank missions their sensei put them through. 

Her dress. Oh god her dress was covered in pee stains and puke. 

Sakura prided herself on being good with children. It came with the job description of being an older girl in a large clan, but those children were the definition of demon spawn. 

She would never forgive Kakashi-sensei. Never. 

Said man walked leisurely alongside his groaning genin, Icha clutched in his hand. 

Sakura will forever wonder how he was able to walk down the street so casually holding porn. She admired his confidence, but she also hated him for it, because of all the looks she was getting walking alongside the man. 

The only good outcome was the money in her pocket. 

“I hate you,” Naruto snapped at their sensei who let out a little laugh. 

“Look who just landed you another babysitting mission tomorrow,” was his lazy response. 

“Thank you, Naruto,’ Sakura choked out in anger, fingers twitching with the urge to smack the blonde. “Thank you so much for that,” she made sure to send him a world ending glare as she said this. Causing the blonde clamp his lips shut. 

When the boys left, Kakshi steered Sakura in the direction of training ground. 

“So you said you wanted to learn genjutsu?” 

“Hai!” Sakura agreed eagerly. 

“Well, I may not be well versed in genjutsu, but I can show you a few basic ones,” he explained and Sakura nodded eagerly. Only to pause. 

Show. Not teach. 

SHe’ll take what she can get. 

“Okay.” 

Kakshi nodded, “Pay attention, I’ll be showing you to jutsu’s, the Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu. That’s the jutsu I used on you yesterday.” 

Sakura nodded. 

“It’s a d-rank.” 

Sakura nodded again. 

‘Watch, carefully” he held up his hands before going through the hand signs. There are only two, Snake-Rat. “Got it?” Sakura nodded, simple enough. “You already know how it works, so I won’t waste any chakra showing it to you.” 

Sakura nodded again. 

“This one is called Magen: Jigoku Kōka no Jutsu,” he started.

_Demonic: Hell Descending Technique._

“Watch my hands,” Kakshi emphasized. Boar-Dog-Bird-Monkey-Ram, “Magen: Jigoku Kōka no Jutsu!” 

Sakura couldn’t keep herself from shrieking when she looked up wards. It was almost like the sun had fallen out of the sky and started a straight course for her. She could feel the sizzling heat and the sweat dripping down her brow. 

She nearly went to dive out of the way but realized it was a genjutsu. Quickly bringing her hands together in the kai symbol she brought her chakra flow to halt and watched as the ball of fire vanished from the sky. 

Chest heaving she looked up at her sensei, who nodded. “Did you get it?” 

“H-hai, thank you sensei,” she nodded, pulling herself together. “What rank is that?” 

He shrugged scratching at the back of his neck. “I’m actually not sure. I saw it and copied it, now I showed it to you. Anyway, you have a week to perfect the jutsu, then when I’ll show two more. How’s that?” 

That’s a pretty short time frame, but if I want to do better, I have two. 

“I’ll do it, sensei.” 

He smiled beneath his mask, “Good,’ he clapped his hands together, “now, if I were you, I’d take a shower. The smell is horrendous.” With that he flickered out of view before Sakura could yell at him. 

Shikamaru was confused and angry. Mostly confused, because angry took too much energy, something he didn’t have at the moment. Or any other moment of the day. Of course his source of confusion came in the form of his pink haired schoolmate, seated beneath his tree, in his compound. Seemingly perfectly content around his deer. 

Turing on his heel he stomped back to his house, peeking his head through the back door he fixed his father with a look, “Why is there a pink haired banshee hogging  _ my  _ tree?” 

His father looked up from his paperwork, “who?” 

“Haruno Sakura, why is she in the forest and under  _ my  _ tree? Pink hair green eyes.” 

“Ah, Pinky-chan, I said she could hang around there when she wants.” 

Shikamaru nodded, “Okay, but why  _ my  _ tree?” 

Shikaku shrugged, “I told her that she should invest in a different tree.” 

“Tell her to leave,” he demanded. 

“Is she destroying anything?” 

“No.” 

“Have the deer shown irritation because of her presence.” 

“No, but obviously I’m showing irritation because of her presence.” 

Shikaku chuckled at his son’s irate expression. “Then tell her to leave yourself.” 

“But-.” 

Shikaku cut his son off with a look 

Shikamaru threw his head back with a loud groan that sounded much like a curse. “What a drag!’ 

His father’s chuckles followed him out the door and into the forest. Stomping through the thicket he came across his tree and the pink haired genin. 

“That’s my tree,” he stated. 

Sakura flinched slightly looking up from her book, “Shikamaru-san! You scared me.” 

“You’re under my tree.” 

She frowned in confusion, “It’s  _ a  _ tree.” 

“That’s where you’re wrong, It’s  _ my  _ tree,” Shikamaru scowled. 

“Well, I don’t see your name on it, besides I was here first,” She retorted. 

“Are you really playing that game?” Shikamaru frowned at her and Sakura simply fixed him with a challenging glare. “Well, I found this nine years ago. By default I found this tree first.” 

“Well I’m not moving,”Sakura crossed her arms, dropping the book she was reading to the ground. 

“And I’m not leaving, till I get my nap.” 

“Fine by me,” Sakura shrugged her shoulders and grabbed her book, beginning her reading once again. Shikamaru grumbled under his breath as he stomped over, shoving sakura to the left slightly, ignoring her angered scoff, he slumped against the tree and looked up at the clouds. His houlder pressed against hers. 

“Troublesome woman,” he grumbled, shutting his eyes. Sakura retaliated by cuffing him over the head with her book. 

“I’m not afraid to hit a girl, Haruno.” Shikamaru threatened. 

“Yeah and I’m not afraid to dice a pineapple, Nara.” 

She didn’t speak much. She wasn’t as loud as she was in the academy and she was surprisingly still there when he woke up. When she looked at him she simply said, “You drool when you sleep, Shikamaru-san.” 

When he went home three hours later, Shikaku cocked a brow at his son. “So? Did you chase her off?” 

“She’s troublesome,” was his response as he went off to his room 

“I’ll take that as a no.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter will be more around Sakura learning the genjutsus and some D-rank fails and Shikamaru getting used to Sakura’s presence beneath his tree.
> 
> In many of the Bamf Stories I’ve read, Sakura and Kakashi fall out because of Kakashi’s inability to teach properly.   
> Which I totally agree with, but I’m hoping to at least extend a bridge between the two because I don’t plan on them completely falling out. Kakashi is still going to be shitty teacher but Sakura will at least have a few takeaways from him in the end. 
> 
> If you enjoyed comment and hopefully leave a kudos.
> 
> And I’ll see you when I see you.
> 
> -CHOCOLEX


	3. Foundation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just finished watching the Haunting of Bly Manor. I can’t stop crying.
> 
> Anyway enjoy the update while I go wallow in my endless well of tears.

The only way to expand chakra was from hard work. Both physically and mentally. She started physically. That was easy, adding chakra to the weights she had taken from her Kurou’s room she set off on a run around the village. It was absolutely brutal on the knees and the burn in her calves and lungs was terrible. But as she made her way around to the training grounds, she felt accomplished.

She felt happy, the fact that she didn’t stop once made her feel accomplished. It gave her confidence. She wasn’t as incompitent as she thought.

Baby steps. 

“You’re late Sakura-chan!” Naruto sprung up into her bath as she came across the training ground panting and sweaty.

“Am I?” She looked up at the sun and shrugged. “I didn’t notice.”

“Why are you so sweaty? And what did you do to your hair?Dattebayo?”

Sakura cocked an eyebrow, “I didn’t do anything to my hair,” She mumbled reaching up, her hair was in a tight braid, like how it was the day before. Did he not notice yesterday? 

She shrugged, Naruto wasn’t known for being the most observant. 

“It’s just in a braid, it was getting in my while I running earlier,” She explained blandly as she she began to walk over to the the tree she had taken over the day before, simply nodding at her Uchiha teammate she pulled out a book on kenjutsu and began to read beneath the shade of the tree her breathing slowing.

She vaguely noted that it wasn’t as comfortable as the tree in the Nara forest, and decided she would go back later that day, just to screw with Shikamaru.

He shocked her yesterday, he’s one of the classmates that had said less than two words to her in the four years they had been schoolmates. Those words were simply, “Troublesome” and “Uggh”, the last one being hardly a word. Yesterday he had the energy to try and argue with her.

It was absolutely concerning. She almost thought he had a fever, but it became apparent that he just really, really and she means, really liked that tree and was in need of a nap. So she decided to piss him off even more by hogging that tree. 

He’d have to drag her kicking and screaming from beneath it if he ever thought that it was still his alone now.

She knew he was too lazy to do that.

Besides sharing is caring.

  
  


Across the village in Shikamaru sneezed. Blinking, he looked up at the clouds, “Troublesome.”

Chouji looked over munching on his BBQ chips, “What was that?”

“Nothing.” _I feel like a certain pink haired banshee has declared war on me….what a drag._

He was pulled from his thoughts as a child smelling of pee grabbed at his pony tail and yanked yelling, “Pineapple!”

  
  


Sakura squeaked when Kakashi-sensei's body flickered in front of her, pouting beneath his mask, “Maa, what is so much more interesting than your sensei, Sakura chan?”

He looked down at the book his little genin was reading, expecting to see the same genjutsu book his student was reading the day before. That wasn’t it. It was a book on kenjutsu.

“Did you give up on Genjutsu already, Sakura-chan?” He raised his eyebrow and the girl scowled in a nearly offended maner.

“No, Genjutsu is good for long range and stealth, but I also need to invest in other forms of Jutsu,” She explained and Kakashi-sesei who bobbed his head.

“So I expect two perfected jutsu by the end of the week, correct?” 

Sakura nodded firmly, “Hai.”

“Good,” he pet her haid lightly on the head, “I like your braid, it’s much more practical.”

She beamed at him, her eyes of spring green glinting. Kakashi-sensei smiled back, “Now, put away the dead tree and let’s go baby sitting.”

She and Naruto groaned as Sasuke ‘Hn’ed.’

Sakura was grateful for the fact that it turned out that the last babysitting missions had been taken off the roster. The last being taken by team eight.

For some odd reason it brought her satisfaction. 

Instead they got fence painting duty. She didn’t mind painting, she found it calming. Well she would have found it calming if Sasuke and Naruto were not arguing about which way to paint is better, up and or left to right. 

It was most definitely up and down but Sakura didn’t didn’t voice her opinion because she refused to give Sasuke any more footing. She may have given up in her pursuit of the Uchiha survivor but she still couldn’t help the occasional sweaty palm or the fluttering stomach, making her lose appetite. 

That was normal, right?

_Right?_

Shaking her head she continued with her painting, she had finished painting the picket fence white and asked the owner if she could add some colour. The woman being a mother of two little girls readily agreed and after consulting the girls on what they would like to see she had decided to paint a cherry blossom tree with falling pink petals and a song bird sitting upon one of its branches. 

As she began to fill in the outline of the tree with brown she was suddenly shoved knocking over paint, the colours splattering over her detailed outline and covering the white of the fence not meant to be painted with different shades of pink and her dress with brown. 

She couldn’t stop the outraged squawk from escaping her lips. Two hours of work gone. Destroyed. 

The force that knocked into her just so happened to be her hyperactive blonde teammate who was rubbing his head with a grimace, “Naruto!” She bellowed and the blonde blinked a guilty look coming over his face. 

“I’m sorry Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme shoved me, I didn’t mean to, here let me help you fix it! ” He scrambled to get his brush and dragged it horizontally smudging the pink into the white. 

Making it worse. 

“No!” she stopped him with a knock upside the head. “You’re making it worse!” 

“I’m sorry Sakura-chan!” 

Sakura stopped.

_“Sasuke-teme shoved me.”_

Her head snapped around to look at the Uchiha who stood a few feet away, holding a paintbrush in hand, a white handprint on his face most likely from Naruto before he shoved him. So, technically it was his fault. 

That made Sakura’s resentment bubble to the surface and rear its head. “You,” she started with a clenched jaw, spring green eyes blazing in anger. Sasuke’s eyes widened marginally, barely noticeable before he schooled his expression and looked at her disinterestedly. 

“What?”

_He did this. He did this and all he can say is “what”?_

“This took me two hours to do,” she said pointing at the ruined painting. 

“And?” He cocked a brow and still was able to look holier than thou.

_The audacity!_

Exhaling angrily angrily through her nose like an irate bull about to charge. “You shoved Naruto. Which means that this mess is your fault,” she accused. Hearing Naruto gasp from where he stood crouched low away from what he thought would be another in coming fist. 

“I didn’t knock into you, did I?” 

“No but you shoved him into me, didn’t you?” Sakura retorted. 

The boy shrugged, “Hn.”

“It took me two hours two paint two coats of white and begin the outline of a painting for the two little girls who lived here,” She started resisting the urge to rub between her eyebrows. “That’s the same amount of time it took you to paint half a fence white,” She motioned to his half finished work. Almost scathingly she added, “Funny, for the number one rookie, huh?’ 

Naruto gaped and Sasuke’s eyes glinted almost dangerously. 

There it was. The sweaty palms. The fluttering stomach. 

Normal.

_Right_?

Rolling her eyes she turned her attention back to the painting. She could fix this. 

“Naruto, can you get me the blue?” 

Sakura was thankfully able to salvage the painting. She adadde a lake and grass using the splatters as falling petals and the smudged paint as a rippling reflection. 

“That’s a very good painting. Making the best of the worst situation,” Kakashi commented when he finally looked up from his glorified porn. “Very ninja of you.” 

The woman who hired them was greatly impressed with Sakura’s work and gave her some extra pay. Happy with her pay of the day and the outcome she made her way to the Nara compound beating Shikamaru out by just five minutes. 

When he saw her, he scowled. “Troublesome.’ 

But unlike yesterday he didn’t argue, he simply shoved her to the left and took a seat their shoulders pressed together. Looking up from her book with a raised brow she commented. “You smell like a used toilet.” 

“You look like you got in a fight with a clown.” 

She shrugged. “Touché.” 

That’s where the conversation ended. Sakura turned her attention to practicing her genjutsu and Shikamaru went to sleep. 

When Shikamaru got home four hours later he was met with his father who was sitting at the dining table. Shikaku looked up at his son and scrunched his nose. 

“You smell like a used toilet.” 

His son fixed him with a deadpan expression. “Troublesome,” he grumbled strolling to his room. 

Shikaku blinked, “Was it something I said?” 

When Nara Yoshino came in just a second layer she raised a brow dropping the groceries onto the table. She looked at her husband with a cocked eyebrow, “You look like you’ve been slapped by a clown.” 

Her comment was immediately followed by their son’s loud groan of annoyance from across the house. Yoshino blinked. “What the hell is his problem?” 

Shikaku shrugged.

  
  


The next day, Sakura found herself running around the village once again. Hair braided back into a braid, her cousin’s maroon sweatshirt thrown over body, a pair of black shorts and black ninja sandals. 

If her mother were here she would have blown a gasket at the sight of her daughter. As far as she was concerned her daughter must always keep up the image of an eligible bachelorette. 

The woman wasn’t here and she wasn’t looking forward to when she came back in about three weeks. The sight of her paint stained dress would send the woman’s soul to the gates of heaven. 

Finishing her lap she made a beeline for the training grounds where Sasuke and Naruto were already waiting. 

“Sakura-chan! You’re late again!” Naruto yelled jumping in front of his pink haired teammate jumping up and down and he vaguely reminded her of a hyperactive puppy. “And What are you wearing?” 

“Good morning, Naruto,” was Sakura’s deflection patting his head lightly as she walked over to her tree in the training ground. 

Sitting down she pulled a new book on fuinjutsu and a granola bar. She had a heavy dinner breaking her diet for delicious smelling fried chicken. The granola bar was her breakfast. She ignored her stomach’s pitiful growl at the site and sucked it up. 

When Kakashi showed up she luckily didn’t spasm so violently when he appeared. “Sakura-chan, you really are beginning to hurt my feelings. Reading such boring books when I’m right here in front of you,” he clicked his tongue and snatched the book from her hand as she silently shoved the rest of her granola bar into her mouth. 

“Fuinjutsu?” 

She nodded. 

“For?” 

Chewing and swallowing she said, “It compliments Kenjutsu.” 

“You know you can simply buy the storage scrolls?” 

She shook her head, “Too expensive, I’d rather learn it.” 

“You’re very ambitious, Sakura-Chan,” he said, giving the book back and cocking his head at her attire. 

“Is that a boy’s sweatshirt?” 

“Yes?” 

She could see her sensei’s scowl from beneath his mask. “Ano, Sakura-chan, you do realize you are too young for such things!” He scowled with a shake of his finger. 

Sakura fixed her sensei with a horrified look, “It’s my cousin’s! You pervert!” She yelled her cheeks turning the colour of her hair. 

“Ah, that’s a relief.” 

“I hate you.” 

“I wonder if there’s a babysitting mission today.” 

“I take it back!”

  
  


Sakura arrived to find Shikamaru already at the tree, eyes shut, arms crossed behind his head. Scorch marks a spot marked his body and he smelled like a barbecue. She scowled lightly at the sight of him hogging the middle of the tree. 

Walking over she roughly shoved him over to the right, startling him awake as he tumbled over. “Move,” She grunted. 

He glared at her a moment before settling against the tree, making sure to dig his shoulder spitefully into her’s. 

“You look like a used toilet paper,” he commented lightly, giving a pointed look to her stained sweatshirt. “What did they forget to flush you down the toilet?” 

She glared at him, “You look like a barbecued pineapple,” she snapped back. “What, did they forget to serve you with grilled ham?” 

“Troublesome.” 

The conversation ended there. Shikamaru went back to sleep and Sakura continued to practice her genjutsu. 

When Shikamaru went home, he was met with his mother who raised an annoyed eyebrow, “Did someone forget their ham?” 

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, “Troublesome.” 

He barely ducked under the pot his mother launched at him for the comment. 

Two days passed and Shikamaru found Sakura beneath the tree once again. He decided he didn’t really mind her presence. 

When he made his presence known with a loud yawn, brushing the rotting banana peel from his shoulder she looked up at him. “Did you go dumpster diving?” 

He fixed her with a tired expression, “Did they put you through a paper shredder?” 

That’s where their conversation would have ended but Sakura decided to do something different as the Nara settled beside her. 

“Can I put you under a genjutsu?” 

Her question was met with a raised eyebrow. 

“I-I mean, my sensei gave me some genjutsu I need to perfect by tomorrow, I’m sure I got it down, I-I just need to put it successfully on someone!” She elaborated quickly. 

“Do I look like a guinea pig, Haruno?” 

“Please.” 

“If I say yes will you leave me alone?” 

She nodded eagerly. “Hai!” 

“Troublesome,” he grumbled nodding lightly. 

She brightened. 

_Troublesome woman!_ He thought as a large ball of fire rushed towards him from the sky.

When Shikamaru went home that day. He walked in to see his mother launch a flaming wooden spoon at his father’s head.  
  
_How Troublesome_ , he thought simply going to his room.  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> If you did, comment and leave a kudos. I appreciate it.
> 
> \- CHOCOLEX


	4. Suggestion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, someone said I should get a beta? Idk about that. I work on my own schedule I update irregularly. The only reason I’m Writing so much now is because I’m isolating. 
> 
> I don’t want to bother anyone with my terrible schedule.
> 
> I don’t think the mistakes are bad, I tend to catch the big ones and I might just go back when done or after I reach a certain point in the story to edit myself.
> 
> Anyway enjoy.

Sakura woke up curled up into a tight ball on her ghost of a cousin’s bed. She had left the window open letting a chill sweep into the room overnight. She found herself sleeping heavier every night she found herself in the confines of his room. 

It was funny how this room felt more like home than the rest of the house. More so her room. The bright pink making it near impossible to sleep, while here she found the grey walls calming. Three years gone and her cousin’s scent still lingered. Almost like he n ever left.

The empty house made her restless. This room kept her calm.

Sometimes she felt as if he was there. Holding her to his chest after a nightmare. 

She burrowed deeper into his pillow and closed her eyes as tears escaped. 

She felt lonely.

Curling into a tighter ball she began to softly cry.

_ Kurou placed a large warm hand in her head. “It’s okay imouto, I’m sure you and Ino-Chan will make up eventually.” _

_ She shook her head , her body shuddering sobs calming down to violent tremors. “No! No she won’t. She hates me now, Ku-nii! She hates me. I’m alone now.” _

_ “You’re not alone, you have me. I’m not going anywhere. Remember it’s you, it’s me, it’s us. Right?” _

Sakura cried harder.

_No It’s not,_ she thought. _Not anymore._

  
  
  


Kakashi sat among some of his Jounin friends at a ninja bar in the heart of the village called the Sassy Shuriken.

Dumb name.

Fun place.

Toying with the empty shot glass in his hand he turned his attention to Shiranui Genma, who was staring at him expectantly. He was unable to take on a genin team of his own that year, too busy guarding the Hokage’s back and doing whatever he does in the deep dark depths of the T&I building.

“I heard a rumour you got the Uchiha on your squad.Who else?”

“Uzumaki Naruto” Kakashi mumbled watching as a flicker of sadness cross Gemma’s face.

“Anything like his old man?”

Kakashi snorted, “Not even close, kami.”

“And.”

“A civilian girl named Haruno Sakura. Can’t quite put my thumb on that one. One second she’s fawning over the Uchiha, the next she can barely look at him.”

Genma blinked, “Any relation to Haruno Kurou?”

“Yeah, did you know him?”

“Yeah, a very talented shinobi with the most ridiculous pink hair and these large green eyes” Genma nodded remembering his old friend. “He was a weird piece of shit. But damn was he good at what he did.” His eyes glazed over slightly before he smiled.

“What is she interested in?”

“I’m not quite sure. At first I thought she was too busy running after Uchiha Sasuke, suddenly she had her nose buried in Genjutsu books and Taijutsu books. She looked like a girl who would never be caught dead in anything unladylike, now she’s running around the village in shorts and sweatshirts.”

Genma shrugged, “Haruno are weird like that.”

Asuma spoke up from where he sat next to his not girlfriend Kurenai. “Haruno’s are weird, period.”

This drew a grumble of agreement from the wasted Anko, who was probably drinking to drown out a bad week.

“Am I the only one who hadn’t met Kurou?” Kakashi asked with a cocked brow.

Kurenai raised an awkward hand, “I didn’t.”

“Well, That’s because you were too busy drowning your sorrows in blood to notice him. Despite his obnoxious pink hair he knew how to make himself scarce,” Anko hiccuped as she took another swing of her beer.

Kakashi winced lightly. 

“The kid, Sakura is it?” Anko asked, drawing a nod from the table. “What is her type?” 

“You mean broody ravenettes?” 

This drew a chuckle from the moping kunoichi, “No, I mean specialization.” 

“Genjutsu I believe.” 

“And it surprised you that she took an interest in it?” 

“No, it’s how quickly she took an interest in it that surprised me,” Kakashi corrected. 

“Well, be happy that she’s taking her career as Kunoichi seriously, kami knows we’re in need of capable ones,” Anko states strongly and Kurenai nods in agreement. 

“I’m all for it, it’s just that, genjutsu isn’t my strong point.” 

“Well have you showed her the basics?”

“I showed her two earlier this week, I gave her the week to master them,” he shrugged. 

“What did you show her?” Genma 

“Hell viewing and Hell descending,” he shrugged, flipping the empty shot glass. Kurenai’s red eyes fixed him with a scolding look. 

“That’s not fair now is it?” Kurenai protested. “Genjutsu is very subtle and intercut jutsu you need more time.” 

Anko rolled her eyes , “Did she?” 

“We’ll find out tomorrow.” 

“Oh, she already did,” Asuma Commented taking a drag of his cigarette. 

“How the hell do you know if she did, Asuma? Did you steal the cute little genin?” Genma drunkenly giggled. 

Asuma rolled his eyes, “Why would I steal his brat when I have three of my own, a banshee, a void where all food goes to die and a kid who is forty and twelve at the same time and acts like he’s one year away from alcoholism,” he shook his head. 

“Oh please, are you sure that Nara isn’t already drunk? Or high?” Anko jabbed a wry grin taking over her features. 

Asuma blinked, “Now that you mention it, I may have to invest in a breathalyzer, bring it to training.” 

“Laziness is a Nara trait,” Kakashi waved off, “Now how do you know if my genin got the jutsu?” 

Asuma grinned, “Shikamaru was mumbling under his breath during our evening game of shogi, something along the lines of, “ _ Troublesome pink haired banshee and her Troublesome ball of fiery death _ ”, obviously not with the same amount of energy but you get where I’m coming from.” 

Genma burst into laughter,while the rest of the table snickered lightly. 

Kakashi frowned, “Has she been using him as a guinea pig? And has he been willing? 

Asuma shook his head, “Nah, I asked him to elaborate. He said she just wanted to make sure she got it.” 

Anko clapped her hands, “Anyway, back to your cute little genin, you said she’s been looking into Taijutsu? What else?” 

“Kenjutsu And fuinjutsu.” 

Anko and Genma nodded, “Makes sense, Genjutsu is good for long range and stealth. Taijutsu and Kenjutsu make up for that,” Genma said. 

“Fuinjutsu compliments Kenjutsu” Anko added. “You have a big brained genin.” 

“You could help her more with Taijutsu, you’re good at that,” Genma continued. 

“I don’t have time for that,” Kakashi shook his head. 

He was sent several deadpanned expressions. 

“Yeah, getting lost on the road of life,” Anko mocked with a cackle. 

“Exactly,” Kakashi said with a bright smile. 

Everyone collectively rolled their eyes. 

Then Anko brightened, “I know who can teach your genin genjutsu.” 

Genma seemed to be on the same wavelength as Anko but not as agreeing, “Are you crazy? She’d chew the poor girl up!” 

Asuma clicked in quickly after, “You can’t be serious?! That old bat? She’d drive the poor girl crazy!” 

Kakashi was in a second later, “Absolutely not.” 

Anko turned her full attention to the copycat ninja, “Just hear me out before you knock me out,” Anko waved her hands. “Senju Mazoku, is the best genjutsu user this village has had the pleasure of claiming-no offence Kurenai, love you,” she grinned at the red eyed Jounin who shrugged. 

“None-taken.” 

“If your genin wants to excell at genjutsu, she’s her best bet.” 

“Senju Mazuko is a demon. Her name literally means demon, you want me to put Sakura in a room with that thing?” 

“Kurou did it!” 

“She’s not Kurou!” 

“How would you know, you’ve never met him!” 

Genma cut in before anything could get violent, “How about this,” he paused to make sure they were both listening, “You take a mission to weed her garden and deep clean her house when it comes up. Let the boys do the weeding and the girl do the cleaning, if she runs out house with her tail tucked between her legs, that’s your answer. If she stays, give her permission to go back, how does that sound? Remember it’s your genin’s choice.” 

It was silent for a moment before Kakashi sighed, “Fine.” 

Anko shrugged. 

Genma grinned, “Now,” he clapped a hand on Kakashi’s shoulder, “When was the last time you let Pakkun and the boys out for a run?” His grin turned sadistic. 

Kakashi mirrored it, “I like how you think.” 

Anko cackled, ”I’ve created monsters!”

  
  


Sakura sneezed through her tears as a shiver ran down her spine. 

“I don’t like that feeling, Ku-nii, not one bit,” she mumbled to the empty room, her red rimmed eyes slipping closed. 

Sakura woke up feeling like crap the next day. Eating a heavy breakfast to compensate for her crappy mood she put on her weights and forced herself to go on her morning run. 

Dragging her feet to the door she opened it only to blink at sight in front of her.

What in the world?

Shaking her head she began to close her door, “I’m going back to sleep,” she stated. 

“You’re Sakura-Chan right?” A gruff voice stated and she blinked looking down at one of eight dogs.

Pursing her lips she cocked her head stating, “I’m going to therapy.” 

“You can do that later Sakura-chan, we have a morning run to go on don’t we?” The pug grinned sharply. 

“W-what?” 

Naruto perked up at the sight of his pink teammate fast approaching. 

“Good morning Sakura-Chan!” He called brightly ignoring the Uchiha’s scoff. 

Naruto frowned at the absolute look of panic on her face. Squinting he recoiled as he saw his teammate being chased down by eight dogs. 

“What the?!” 

Sakura barrelled past them towards her tree and scrambled up it. Curling into a tight ball. 

The dogs were quick behind all circling bellow the tree and looking up at the pink haired genin eagerly. 

“That’s not fair, Sakura-chan,” the smallest called up to the girl who scowled back.

“Did that dog just talk?” Naruto asked the Uchiha who was watching the scene with the same level of confusion. 

“You know what’s not fair, Pakkun? Chasing me up a freaking tree!” 

The dog laughed, “We didn’t chase you the tree, you could have stopped on the second lap you know.” 

Sakura opened her mouth before closing it, opening it again she started, “I have a bone to pick with your owner.” 

The pug shrugged, “Don’t we all, now come down and get your reward.” 

“What is it?” 

“You can’t have it till you get down.” 

Sakura crosses her arms. “Then i'm not coming down, so help me.” 

“If you don’t come down, I’ll get Bull to knock down your tree,” he motioned to the big black bull dog with a spiked collar and blue vest. 

“You wouldn’t dare,” Sakura scowled. 

“Try me,” the pug grinned sharply. 

Sakura whined before climbing down only to regret it as Bull gave her a sloppy kiss up her face causing all the hair on one side of her head to stand on end. 

She scowled, “Thank you, Bull,” She grumbled tiredly, reaching up to rub behind the dog’s ear. The big dog grumbling happily. 

“Doggy pile!” Pakkun yelled. 

“Doggy pile?! What- no-!” Sakura was tackled and slobbered on from all sides. All she knew were fur, paws and doggy breath. 

Kakashi made his presence known two hours later. “Ohiyo!” He greeted brightly. 

“You’re late!” 

“I got lost on the road of life,” was his crappy answer. 

“Where’s Sakura-chan?” 

The two boys pointed towards her tree where Sakura had taken residence atop Bulls back using him as a sort of bed. Pakkun was settled on her head while Urushi, Shiba, Bisuke, Akino, Ūhei and Guruko were all laid around them. Sakura was out like light, her hair a frizzy mess. 

Appearing in front of his sleeping genin, he shook her awake. “Sakura-chan?” 

She stirred lightly,”Sakura-chan,” he shook her again and she blinked her brilliant spring green open. Looking right at him for a moment, not really seeing him. 

“Sensei?” 

“Good morning! How was your run?” 

She blinked again, fixing the man with a glare. “I hate you.” 

“Sure you do.” 

“I need therapy.” 

“We’ll talk to Inoichi-san later if that makes you feel better,” he pet her softly on the head. 

Sakura tensed before shaking her head, “Nevermind,” She grumbled, getting off a sleeping Bull with Pakkun balanced on her head. 

“What are we doing today Kakashi-sensei? A stealth mission? Beating up gang members?” Naruto asked excitedly. 

“Dog walking,”Kakashi grinned. 

“You mean those dogs?” Naruto asked pointing at the dogs Kakashi had taken to petting. 

“No, Pakkun and the boys can walk themselves, and Sakura-chan gave them a good run.” 

Sakura glared. 

The girl let out an exhausted sigh as she watched Naruto being dragged into a land mine field. 

He just had to take the biggest dog didn’t he? 

She shook her head when Naruto came back out, dog missing and smoking like burned BBQ. 

She had no energy to even comment. Giving Naruto the leashes to the two puppies she was walking, she went to look for the big dog ignoring Naruto’s embarrassed apologies. 

The dog was waiting patiently on the other end of the field, whistling as she patted her thigh, grabbing the dogs attention. It ran over eagerly and scratched it behind its ears. 

Sakura liked animals. Dogs, Cats, Weasels, Deer. She always wanted pets but her mother was always against the thought. Just thinking about all the hair that would be left on her chairs and rugs was enough to put the woman in cardiac arrest. 

“Come on buddy, I’m sure you’ve had enough fun for today, hm?” The dog followed after her eagerly meeting up once again with her team she was met with Sasuke and Naruto arguing. 

Well more so Naruto than Sasuke, yet for some odd reason the raven haired boy was always able to win in some way. 

“I see you found him,” Kakashi sensei observed looking up from his glorified porn. 

“Of course I did, he’s well trained,” Sakura said as Naruto eagerly bounded over dragging the poor puppies by their collars. 

Sakura winced. 

“You found him! Good job Sakura-chan! I’ll take him!” He went to grab the Bull dog but Sakura shook her head, opening her hand for the leases of the two puppies. 

“Why don’t I walk the dogs?” she said, grabbing the leashes grimacing in sympathy as the two smaller dogs hid behind the larger one. “All of them,” Naruto pouted, “And you just walk, yeah?” 

She didn’t wait for a response as she turned to look at Sasuke holding out her free hand for his leash when she heard him snort, “Dobe.” 

“I’ll take your dog too,” she said expectantly to the Uchiha who glared. 

“What?” 

“Don’t think I didn’t see you dragging the poor thing like a toy,” she shook her head snatching the leash away as he looked at her with narrowed eyes. “Cat people, honestly.” 

She ignored the uncomfortable flutter of her stomach at the dark look he sent her and began on her way. 

“Why are they all so well behaved with Sakura-chan!” Naruto whined with a scowl. 

Kakashi-sensei shrugged, “Apparently she’s good with animals.” 

After collecting their pay, Kakashi and Sakura made their way to the training grounds. 

“You ready?” 

Sakura nodded in a determined fashion “Hai!” 

He nodded, “Go on.” 

Smiling eagerly she began. Flying through the hand signs that she had spent the week memorizing, Boar-Dog-Bird-Monkey-Ram! “ _ Magen: Jigoku Kōka no Jutsu!”  _

A loud roar filled the air and Lakshi looked up to spot a large ball of flames battling towards him. He could feel the radiated heat and snell the burning has. Nodding in satisfaction he released the genjutsu. 

“Good job, next.” 

Sakura didn’t hesitate as she went through the two others, snake-rat! “Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu!” 

Sakura disappeared from view and a quiet wind swept through the trees. The sky darkened and red eyes peered at him through the leaves. 

_ Creepy,  _ Kakashi thought with a shiver, the feeling of hundreds of eyes on you. Releasing the jutsu he looked at Sakura proudly. 

“You did better than I thought, Sakura-chan.”

She beamed. 

“Now onto the next!”

  
  


When Shikamaru made his way out to the tree, he found Sakura dead asleep, a young deer resting in her lap, a discarded book next to her. Grumbling tiredly he settled next to her and closed his eyes. 

He couldn’t fall asleep for the next fifteen minutes until Sakura stirred and sniffed, “You smell like you took a bath in cheap perfume.” 

His lips twitched lightly, “You smell like a wet dog.” 

Sakura hummed sleepily. That’s where the conversation ended. They were both fine with that. 

For the next month, Team Seven took several D-rank missions. Sakura had been chased around the village every morning by Kakashi-sensei’s ninken and every week Sakura would memorize two new genjutsu and every week Kakashi-sensei would let out a sigh of relief at the lack of Senju in the mission register. 

Every week, Sakura’s house grew colder. Her parents had taken a detour and wouldn’t be back for another two or three weeks and the thought of being alone in that house for that long was starting weigh on her mind. 

Pursing her lips where she was crouched she listened for her que. 

“Sasuke, I’m at point B.” 

Speaking into the radio she followed his example, “Sakura, at point C.” 

There was a prolonged silence, “Naruto, I’m at point A, believe it.” 

Kakashi’s voice then drawled, “You’re slow, Naruto. Okay, Squad Seven-,” he stopped. “The target has moved! Follow it!” 

Sakura grumbled as she spotted a brown blue run through the trees, launching off the tree she landed lightly in the balls of her feet. Noting Sasuke right behind her. 

“Over there.”

Naruto, Sasuke and her quickly followed after it crouching behind trees. 

“What’s your distance from the target?” 

“Five meters,” Naruto stated, “I’m ready just give the signal.” 

“I’m ready too,” Sasuke followed. 

“As am I,” Sakura confirmed. 

“Okay…now!” 

They all quickly launched at the unsuspecting cat. Naruto quickly clamped his hands around the cat, startling it. “I got! I got it!” 

“Can you verify the ribbon on the right ear?” 

Sakura laughed lightly as the cat clawed at Naruto in rage. “Get it off! Get it off!” 

“I got it,” Sakura reached out and grabbed the cat, ignoring how it clawed at her hand. She cradled it to her chest, running a soothing hand through it’s brown fur. 

As the cat calmed she nodded at Sasuke who confirmed the Cat’s identity. 

“Can’t we get a better mission than this! I hate cats!” Naruto yelled and Sakura quickly clawed the earpiece off her ear leaving a loud ringing in its wake. 

“Naruto,” she scolded, knocking a fist against against his blonde head. 

Arriving back at the Hokage building, Sakura reluctantly returned Tora to her owner. Feeling nothing but pity as the feline as it was crushed to the large woman’s bosom. 

_ That poor cat,  _ she thought.  _ No wonder it ran away.  _

Naruto didn’t share the same sentiment. 

“Now then,” the Hokage began drawing their attention. “For squad seven’s next mission we have several available tasks. Among them, babysitting the chief counselor’s three year old, helping his wife to do the shopping, digging up potatoes, and-.” 

“No!” Naruto whined, cutting the old man off. “I wanna go on a real mission! Something challenging and exciting! Not this little kid stuff!” 

Sakura rolled her eyes, If you keep acting like one, we’re gonna keep getting them.

“Come on old man!” 

_ That is so disrespectful, I can’t even comment _ , the pink haired genin sighed pinching the bridge of her nose. 

Iruka-sensei shit up with a livid expression. 

_ Here we go. It’s like we’re back in the academy all over again.  _

Four years dealing with Naruto and Iruka-sensei’s arguments made it easy for Sakura to block them out as she focused on her training routine. 

Every day she walked Kakashi-sensei’s ninken, or more so them walking her. Practice new genjutsu. Attempt and fail at making a storage scroll. Work on her aim and her Katas. Look for and fail at finding a main weapon for her Kenjutsu. 

Though Kenjutsu is an overall knowledge of weapons. It’s recommended that users find a weapon to fall back on. The problem was that they were so many to choose from. Katanas, Tekkan, Hachiwari, Tenssen, Gunbai, Kusarigama and so on and so forth. 

“SILENCE!” 

Sakura blinked out her thoughts looking at the Hokage. Kakashi awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “Oh, sorry.” 

Naruto turned, “Aah! You always lecture me like you’re my grandfather or something.”

_ Once again, disrespectful.  _

“But I’m not a little brat!” Naruto continued. 

Sakura snorted lightly,  _ That’s debatable.  _

“I’m a ninja now, and I want a ninja mission!” 

It was silent for a long moment before the Hokage and Iruka-sensei began to chuckle lightly. “Naruto wants us to know that he’s not a brat. He’s a former brat, and he wants a mission. So be it.” 

Sakura blinked in shock. 

“Since you’re so determined. I’m going to give you a C-ranked mission. You’ll be bodyguards on a journey.” 

Naruto brightened, “Really? Yes!” He fist pumped, “Who? Who? Are we guarding a princess? Or some counselor?” 

“Don’t be so impatient. I will bring him in now. Send in our visitor!” He called. 

They all turned to the door just as an old drunkard stumbled in. “What the—? A bunch of snot nosed kids?” He took a long sip of his sake, some of it dripping down his chin. 

He looked at all of them in distaste through his oval glasses, “And you, the little one with idiotic look on your face.” He pointed, “You really expect me to believe you’re a ninja?” 

Naruto burst into laughter and Sakura shook her head. 

“Who’s the little one wit the idiotic look on his—? Huh?”

He looked between Sasuke and Sakura, both taller and Sakura likes to think she doesn’t look like an idiot. It soon dawned on him who the old man was referring to. 

“I’ll demolish you!” he tried to attack the client but Kakashi-sensei already had him by the collar. 

“You can’t demolish the client, Naruto. It doesn’t work that way.” 

The old man took another large swing of Sake, “I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder, and I must return to my country. I’m building a bridge there that will change our world, and I expect to get you there safely, even if it means giving up your life.” 

Sakura deadpanned.  _ Dying for a drunkard who’s gonna die anyway in two years of liver failure if he keeps going. How Troublesome. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You won’t be meeting, Senju Mozuku for awhile. At least not until after the Land of Wave arc which just begun and maybe the first half of Chunin exam arc. We’ll see.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> If you did, comment and leave a kudos.
> 
> And I’ll see you when I see you.
> 
> -CHOCOLEX


	5. Reaction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a new update. I hope you enjoy it.

They were given an hour to pack before meeting at the gates. It didn’t take Sakura long to pack her clothing. What took the most time was whether or not she would let her cousin’s hidden journals mock her any longer. She was curious. Alarmingly so. What was so important he had to document and hide as manga?

Would he hate her if she pried?

Hesitating a moment she stood on the tips of her toes and reached for the manga cover labelled ONE. She slipped it into her knapsack refusing to look at it just yet.

Satisfied she went downstairs and began to pen two notes. One for her parents if they got back before her and one for the pineapple she had taken a liking to. 

When done she quickly made her way to the Nara compound and left the note beneath the tree before making her way towards the village gates, where everyone was already waiting. 

“What took you so long Sakura-chan?” Naruto was the first to eagerly address her.

“I was writing a letter?” Sakura said though it sounded more like a question than a statement which Kakashi-sensei quickly latched onto. 

“Is that what you girls call it nowadays?”

She glared at him and crossed her arms. “This is why you’re single Kakashi-sensei,” she jabbed, watching as her sensei was hit by a metaphorical arrow to the heart as he went gloomy.

“Why are you so mean to me, Sakura-chan?”

“You let Pakkun abuse me.”

“I do not,” Kakashi-sensei defended indignantly.

“Only you could give them permission to drag me around the village by my limbs for being too slow!”

Kakashi-sensei shrugged, “Then you shouldn’t be slow.”

“I hate you.”

Kakashi-grinned from beneath his mask, “Sure you do.”

Sakura shook her head and began to walk out the gates where Naruto was waiting eagerly, and the drunk was watching drunkenly.

“Why are you so excited for Naruto?”

“This is the first time I ever left the village. I’m a traveller now. Believe it!”

“It’s nothing that exciting, Naruto, trust me,” Sakura told her blonde teammate who pouted lightly. “The only difference between here and the Wave is that it’s wetter and they don’t have ninja,” she explained.

The drunk turned to look at the pink-haired genin wearily, “You’ve been to the Wave girly?”

Sakura nodded firmly, “Hai. I have a big clan, which means lots of travelling. I’ve been to a lot of places. Though my family don’t go to the Wave anymore after the economy tanked,” She explained as they all started their journey.

“So you understand why this bridge is so important then, girly?” Tazuna grunted fixing her with a look through his glasses.

“My name is Sakura, not Girly, and yes, I do.” I just don’t believe it’s worth me dying for.

They walked in silence for the first hour or so, with Tazuna leading and the squad flanking.

“Say, Sakura?”

“Yes, Naruto?” 

“You said you have a clan,” Naruto started looking over to his pink-haired teammate. “Why haven’t I heard of them before?”

Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei both looked over in interest. Though he looked curious, Sakura was sure that Kakashi-sensei knew more about her clan than the others, but maybe not enough.

“Konohagakure only teaches about its history and clans, the Haruno does not originate from Konoha so we are not mentioned. That and the fact that we aren’t much of a shinobi clan,” She explained watching as Tazuna perked up.

“Haruno you said?” He asked and Sakura nodded. “That explains the weird hair and the eyes,” Tazuna grunted before turning back around.

“If you aren’t from Konoha, where are you from?” Kakashi-sensei asked. 

“Were you not born in Konoha?” Naruto asked in confusion. 

Sakura shook her head, “I was born in the land of Iron, Like those before me and those before them.” 

Naruto frowned at how she worded it, as did Kakashi-sensei and Tazuna, the only one who didn’t look confused was Sasuke. 

“Tradition,” he grunted looking at her with a rare understanding. 

Sakura nodded, “It’s tradition when a woman of the clan is pregnant, she is taken back to the Land of Iron where she will spend nine months on ancestral ground and give birth within our ancestral home. “Where the blood of Iron runs thick, and Spring blooms beneath our Fingertips’.” She recited the last part with a smile. “The mother and newborn live within the home for the next four months under the protection of the main branch.” 

“Are you not of the main Branch?” Tazuna asked. 

“I am.” 

“So you’re the heir?” Sasuke asked. 

Once again sakura shook her head, “No. My father is the heir, I’m just his daughter.” 

“So technically, you’re the heir’s heir?”

She rolled her eyes, “Sure.” 

“How did you know she was from the main branch, Tazuna-san?” Kakashi-sensei asked. 

The drunk snorted, “That ridiculous pink hair.” 

“It’s not ridiculous,” Sakura mumbled tugging insecurely at her braid. It took her a long time to learn to love her exotic looks compared to those around her. She could tell she wasn’t fully there yet, feeling her self esteem tumbling to the ground as she walked. 

Kakashi-sensei pats her head like one of his ninken, “It suits you well, Sakura-chan, like a pink crown, fit for a pink princess,” he teased and Sakura scowled to cover up the fact he made her feel much better. 

“I don’t like you.” 

His grin widened. “Sure you don’t.” 

They walked in silence for the next few hours with occasional exciting outbursts from Naruto which would then turn violent as when Tazuna or Sasuke commented.

Sakura stepped silently over a puddle as they walked down the path. They didn’t get more than two feet away from it until two bodies sprung from the puddle. 

The sound of fast-approaching steps and chains drew their attention. It was already too late when they wrapped their chains tightly against Kakashi-sensei’s body and pulled, ripping him to pieces. 

Sakura couldn’t suppress the horrified scream from escaping her throat at the sight. Her stomach-lurching violently. 

“Kakashi-sensei!” 

Sasuke was the first to react as they fixed their attention on Naruto. Throwing a shuriken and Kunai to trap their chains. 

“Damnit!” Sakura hissed as she sped in front of Tazuna, “Stay behind me!” Pulling a smoke bomb from her ninja pouch she threw to the ground just in front of her and Tazuna. Black smoke filled the area and she grabbed Tazuna Pulling him back several paces. 

Flashing through quick hands signs,  _ Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu!  _ She cast a false surrounding technique hiding both her and Tazuna from view just as the smoke cleared and Sasuke kicked the two ninjas in the face causing them to yank on their chains till they broke. This didn’t seem to deter them as they circled. 

“Damnit! Where’s the old geezer?!” One of them yelled their eyes searching. 

Sakura pushes Tazuna behind her several paces once again and pulls out several shuriken and kunai, stepping out from the radius of her genjutsu she launched them at the two, her sudden appearance seemed to throw them off guard as some of her weapons hit. 

“Wrong move, pinky!” They came at her with intent to kill, ignoring her wobbling knees and fear that nearly struck her to the ground. Sakura once again found her hands moving through familiar hand signs. 

_Boar- Dog- Bird- Monkey- Ram! Magen: Jigoku Kōka no Jutsu!_

A roar filled the area as the temperature went up several degrees. The two ninjas looked up and recoiled violently as they spotted the large ball of fire headed their way.

_ What the hell?  _ Naruto thought in confusion at the sight of the two ninjas suddenly cowering back.

Just as it seemed the ball would hit the two foreign ninjas Kakashi-sensei made an appearance, grabbing both attackers in a chokehold. 

The jounin looked around and smiled, “Hi.” 

Sakura stared at him for a moment. A _ part of me is happy he is alive. Another part of me wants to bury him six feet under for the Mental scarring he just put me through.  _

“You used the replacement Jutsu!” 

Kakashi-sensei looked over to the blind on the ground, “Naruto, sorry I didn’t help you right away. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt, I just didn’t think you’d freeze up like that,” that the jounin dragged the two ninjas to a tree. 

As he passed both Sakura and Sasuke he commented, “Good job, both of you very smooth,” he praised. Sakura couldn’t help but beam. 

She finally did something. 

She wasn’t useless.

That made her feel amazing.

  
  
  


Shikamaru approaches his tree, blinking in shock when he isn't greeted with a head of obnoxious pink hair. Instead, he was greeted with a book sitting in her place. Sighing, he picked it up and sat down against the tree.

THE ART OF WAR.

Flipping the book open he was just able to catch the note left within the pages. 

_ Dear Pineapple-Kun, _

He couldn’t help but snort at the dumb nickname.

_ Just because you haven’t been graced with my amazing presence does not mean I have conceded this tree to you. _

_ My team has gotten an escort mission so you’ll have the tree to yourself for the next few weeks (Use this time wisely). I will come back for this tree.  _

_ Anyway, I decided to extend a branch. If you excluded our casual insults and my occasional begging for you to put yourself in mental duress to perfect my genjutsu, we’ve never had a proper conversation.  _

_ So I thought about it and realized that you and I have nothing in common. Then I remembered something from the class. Whenever we did strategy is when you tried (which was always mentally scarring by the way). I try not to be bitter at the fact you kept beating me at one of my favourite parts of the Academy, and instead choose to use it as a point of mutual interest.  _

_ So, I got a book.  _

_ Read it.  _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Sakura. _

_ P.S. Did someone forget to bake you? _

Shikamaru scowled at the last line looking down at his batter covered clothes. 

How did she know? 

He looked back down at the letter and snorted. 

_ P.P.S. I saw it on the mission roaster before I left. _

_ Read the book. _

Letting out a sigh he flipped open the book and relaxed into the tree. 

”Troublesome.” 

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to expand a bit on what I’m thinking of doing with my version of the Haruno clan. Soon we’ll read what Kurou wrote in his journals. I also plan on making this arch heavy for Sakura. This will be the arch that might just define where I’ll go with Sakura’s Character. This or the Chunin exam arch.
> 
> We’ll see.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I tried using Grammarly, hopefully it caught most of my mistakes. I know it won’t catch them all. But we’ll see.
> 
> -CHOCOHOLIC


	6. Realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know that moment when a baby pukes on you and the urge to yeet them back up to God becomes so strong.  
> My brother holds a special place in my heart.
> 
> Btw, for some reason I don't like this chapter.

Sakura’s feeling of accomplishment, of usefulness, vanished just as quickly as it came and she couldn’t be any more livid with herself and with her team. As Tazuna and Sasuke dragged an unconscious Kakashi-sensei towards the old man’s house, Sakura did everything in her power to swallow down the burning in her chest.

When Zabuza showed his face, Sakura was sure they would die. She could still distinctly remember the feeling of her life being sucked out of her bones just by his presence alone. She had never felt so scared, yet she was willing to work with them. To trust her sensei. 

They were supposed to be a team. They were supposed to work together.

They didn’t so much as bother to include Sakura in their plan.

They didn’t even try.

They just left her standing hopelessly in front of the Tazuna, her fast mind going over and over different possibilities, growing up she was always told a battle was like shogi. The first five moves determine the winner. So by the time Kakashi-sensei was trapped in the water prison, all she could think about was what shade of pink her mother would dress her in for her funeral.

Then Naruto and Sasuke shocked her.

They didn’t win, not by a long shot, but they survived. They survived and she couldn’t help but feel like a flashy side piece to their duo. It hurt. Was she just that unimportant she wasn’t worth the time?

She hated them for making her feel useless all over again.

And she hated herself for letting them.

She kept her lips pursed into a thin line, her arms crossed over chest as they walked along the path that led up to a quaint little house.

When they were within sight the door to the house burst open and out from the house ran a young woman with dark brown hair, she didn't ask any questions as she quickly helped them carry their sensei inside. 

Sakura sighed in frustration as she laid a cool washcloth on Kakashi -sensei's forehead in the room Tazuna’s daughter, Tsunami had helped the settle in.

“Is Kakashi-sensei going to be okay?” Naruto asked as he peaked at the jounin over his teammates shoulder.

Sakura scowled sharply at the sound of his voice, “He’ll be fine,” she snapped coldly feeling the blonde flinch back at her tone. From the corner of her eye she saw him shift awkwardly in place. 

“What is it?” Her voice sounded like a sharpened kunai to her ears as she watched Naruto flinch again, his smile turning into a grimace.

“Are you mad at me, Sakura-chan?”

“....no.

Her answer was instantly followed by a disbelieving scoff from her raven haired teammate. She made sure to turn and fix him with a nasty glare.

“Why are you mad at me Sakura-Chan? What did I do?” The blonde hovered with a frantic look on his face. “Please don’t be mad at me!”

She frowned at the blonde and felt her anger waver. The more time she spent around the blonde the more she noticed his subtle need to be accepted and tolerated by the people he is meant to be bonding with. He’s been doing everything in his power to be respected by his team. He fights with Sasuke to gain the upper hand in hopes the Uchiha would see him as an equal. He did flashy things to prove to Kakashi-sensei that he was worth the effort in teaching (Which now that she thought about it he rarely did, that’s an issue for another day). With her, it seemed he just wanted a solid place in her life. Someone she trusted.

She pursed her lips and felt her shoulder sag from their tense position. “It’s not what you did Naruto,” she sighed softly, seeing Naruto relax from his own defensive position. “It’s what you guys didn’t do.”

“What?”

She huffed in frustration, “We’re meant to be at team. We’re meant to work together. Did either of you think that I could help?”

Naruto’s face dropped into a pout, “But I was trying to protect you?”

Sakura’s anger flared once again, “I’m not fragile Naruto.”

_ At least I don’t think I am.  _

“I’d rather you treat me like a capable teammate and not something that needs protection,” She snapped angrily causing the blonde to recoil with a sheepish expression. 

_ It’s not fair. I’ve been working hard. I’ve been improving. Haven’t I?  _

_ Why won’t they just give me a chance?  _

Her jaw clenched as she exhaled angrily through her nose, standing up she turned her back on her teammates, “I’m going to go and see if Tsunami-san needs help with dinner, tell me when Kakashi-sensei wakes up.” 

Tsunami-san was a nice woman with a kind hearted smile with just a small tinge of melancholy. She didn’t talk to Sakura much, though she could tell the young dark-haired woman was a very talkative person, Sakura could see the woman's urge to speak endlessly. Thankfully, Tsunami-san seemed to tell that the pink-haired genin wasn’t in the most talkative mood. Her mood was leaning towards one of homicide then not. 

She huffed as she aggressively sliced up carrots with precision. 

“You seem like quite the cook, Haruno-chan,” The woman finally commented, her urge to run off into conversation bubbling to the service. 

Sakura turned to look at the woman, with a strained smile, “Please, just Sakura,” she corrected politely. “My Father and Cousin taught me,” she continued as she dropped the chopped carrots into a pot of boiling water. 

The woman blinked, “Not your mother?” 

Sakura felt some of her anger melt away as she let out a giggle, thinking of her mother’s inability to cook. “My mother is a very skilled woman, but cooking is a skill she can never seem to grasp. She can sing, dance and build a house up from scratch yet she can’t boil a pot of water without nearly setting the house she built on fire,” Sakura giggled lightly along with Tsunami at the thought. 

“I bet she’s very unique, your mother.” 

Sakura nodded, “That she is. She’s very smart, one of the smartest people I know, but she can be a bit out there.” 

“Eccentric?” 

“Yes,” Sakura readily agreed, “Eccentric would be the best way to describe her. She’s this wild, chaotic force of nature that goes where the wind takes her and makes a home out of where she lands,” Sakura sighed wistfully looking out the window absentmindedly as she began to slice up a quartered cabbage.” yet she’s also so grounded. It’s like she builds herself around you and keeps you safe, locked within her ribcage,” Sakura’s eyebrows furrowed and she shook her head. “It’s weird, but it’s so her, you know?” She turned to look at Tsunami who looked off absentmindedly. 

The woman smiled at the pink-haired genin, “She sounds a lot like my husband.” 

Sakura perked up, “Oh, you’re married?” 

Tsunami-san’s smile saddened, “I was. He, uh, he passed a while ago.”

“Oh,” Sakura winced, “How insensitive of me. I’m so sorry,” she began to apologize, bowing deeply. 

“There’s no need to apologize, Sakura-san, it’s been ages,” Tsunami-san quickly diffused with a little laugh. “The pain goes away.” 

Sakura furrowed her brows at the sentence, that was a bold faced lie.”That’s not true,” Sakura refuted with a small shake of her head, feeling Tsunami-san tense from beside her. “That kind of pain never goes away,” She swallowed thickly as she went back slicing the cabbage. “It just becomes…” 

“Bearable,’ Tsunami-san finished in a whisper. 

A quiet sadness fell upon the two as they worked on dinner a bit longer, Tsunami-san, of course was the first to break it. “Akio had this weird whirlwind personality,’ she started. “Where he’s just blow in and turn everything on its head and leave, yet he made it feel like it was always meant to be that way.” 

Sakura gasped in agreement, “It’s like this weird chaotic mess that is always for some reason controlled,” She added and Tsunami-san nodded eagerly and the sadness dissipated as the two females just spoke about these two people they loved with everything in them. 

Two strangers getting to know one another through separate people. 

One gone away and one gone with the wind. 

“Sakura-chan! Sensei’s awake!”

  
  


Sakura looked down at her sensei with her hands on her hips, “I get your sharingan is cool and all but is it really worth it if it nearly scrapes your chakra reserves raw?” Sakura asked rhetorically as her sensei looked up at her with a droopy eye. 

“Sakura-chan,” he began tiredly, “My body is already giving me enough grief about it, can’t you just be glad to see your lovely sensei well and awake?” 

Sakura scowled, “That is an unfair thing to ask, Kakashi-sensei,” she started before blooming into a beaming smile, “I’m never happy to see you,” her smile dropped just as quickly as it came and the man let out an anguished whimper at his genin’s hurtful words ignoring Naruto’s roar of laughter and Sasuke’s little snort. 

“Why must you hurt me so Sakura-chan?” 

“How many babysitting missions did you make us take, Sensei?” 

The man’s lips twisted beneath his mask before he nodded conceding, “That’s fair.” 

It was silent a minute before Kakashi-sensei smiled from beneath his mask, “You thought I was cool, Sakura-chan.” 

“No, I think you’re a loner who uses body pillows to compensate for his lack of female affection,” Her comment was immediately followed by an ingnant squawk from her sensei and bursts of shocked laughter from Tazuna and Tsunami. 

_ This is why I’ll never let you meet Anko and Genma unless absolutely necessary. The three of you would absolutely obliterate my self esteem, _ Kakashi thought with a wounded pout. 

He retaliated by swiping the legs from under his pink haired student, causing her to squeak as she hit the floor, “Ow! Abuse!” Sakura fixed him with an annoyed expression. “You already let the ninken abuse me enough.” 

“I’ll triple your two laps to eight just for that comment.” 

“But sensei-!” 

“No take backs.” 

She scowled and turned her head away mumbling something about a white haired cyclops. Her quiet comment earned her a sharp kick to the side causing her to whine and scoot away sending him a nasty look from beneath her eyelashes. 

Tazuna recovered from his laughing fit, “Anyway, besides the fact that your sensei has a nearly non-existent love life,” Kakashi-sensei sweatdropped at the jab, “he did take down one of the most powerful ninja assassins, so we’ll be safe for awhile.” 

Sakura felt her expression fall at thought.

_ Safe? _

_ I don’t feel safe at all. _

“Right, but you know that boy mask,” Sakura frowned. “Something doesn’t sit right with me when it comes to him,” she voiced rubbing her forefinger against the crease that had formed between her eyebrows as they twitched in thought.A habit she had learned from her father when he was brainstorming ideas for his new inventions. 

_ If I recall correctly the boy wore a mask. Anbu perhaps? I know that the Anbu in Konoha wore animal masks. Kurou had a raven mask sitting in his room.  _ She had hid it beneath the bed because it freaked her out. _ He told me about the Anbu. Every village had different ways of utilizing their Anbu divisions. Though they all had an overarching job. They dealt mostly with s-ranked missions. Assassinations, kidnappings, infiltration, anything demanded from the very top.  _

_ The boy said he had been hunting Zabuza for a while. Hunting. Hunter nin. A hunter who was specifically placed within the ranks of the Anbu.  _

She finally spoke, “The boy. He was a hunter ninja, correct? What is the protocol for tracking down a ninja gone rogue?” 

Kakashi looked over at his pink haired genin.  _ It seems she’s been using that big brain of hers more and more as time goes on, _ he thought. 

“The boy wasn’t just a Hunter,” Kakashi-sensei began, “He was a part of the Anbu Black Ops, also known as the inferno Squad,” He put an emphasis on that part for the two boys who sat behind the pink haired genin. Neither being on the same wavelength as Sakura, “which destroyed all traces of a rogue ninja’s corpse.. ” 

Sakura’s mouth went dry as she paled from where she sat, Kakashi-sensei watched her expression carefully. Taking in the way her eyebrows furrowed, a crese beginning to form between them.  _ It was quite a fascinating thing to watch someone think so rapidly. It was like watching a puzzle piece come together from behind their eyes.  _ The question was : What was Sakura trying to puzzle together? 

He continued to explain, not entirely sure if she was still listening, “The shinobi’s body contains many secrets--Ninjutsu, chakra, special medicines used on his body. These are the secrets of his village. If his enemies find them, his people will be in grave danger,” As Kakashi continued to explain Sakura was putting the pieces together at her own pace, blocking him out into the process. 

_ If they are meant to destroy a body, why would he take it with him? A dead body has no muscle tone. Muscles stiffen in rigor mortis there is no interaction in the muscles in bones, making the body feel heavier than it was when it was alive. The boy was almost half Zabuza’s height and weight. He may be strong enough to carry the man’s corpse but that would be redundant to carry it away if you were just going to dispose of it somewhere else? _ Her index finger on her right hand began to rub at the crease between her brows as she sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and began chewing nervously on it. She didn’t like where her thoughts were headed. She felt sick to her stomach. 

_ How did he kill Zabuza? A senbon to the neck. Why the neck? It’s more vulnerable. There is no layer of muscle. Easier target. Pressure points. Dead. There was no pulse, sesnei checked. He was stiff. Maybe paralysis? There are several pressure points in the neck. Back of neck, spinal cord. Temporarily stopping the heart using senbon. Pression and subtleness. Rarely fatal but effective.  _

_ Oh no. _

Sakura gasped when it finally dawned on her, startling her sensei and teammates out of their deep discussion about what Tracker nin are tasked with doing. 

“Sakura-chan?” Kakashi-sensei asked worried for his genin, watching her turn green. “Are you alright?” It had barely been ten seconds since she had retreated into herself to think, but the dawning horror on the girl’s face was enough to tell him she had come to a dangerous conclusion. 

“He’s alive,” she choked out, bringing her knees to her chest. 

Kakashi’s visible brow dipped as he processed her words and he sighed, the sinking pit in his abdomen finally made sense. He looked at his genin’s distressed face and tried not wince, “It’s okay Sakura-chan,” he tried to reassure. 

“How is it okay?!” She half shrieked, startling Naruto who was watching them in confusion. 

“What are you two yammering about, Dattebayo!” 

A part of Kakashi was scolding himself for letting this pass him. His pride taking a hit especially when he realized his twelve year old genin came to the conclusion before he did. It was most definitely not okay. Not at all. 

Sakura let out an embarrassing whimper as she hid her face between her knees. 

“What the hell is wrong with Sakura?!” Naruto yelled, looking his female teammate over with worried blue eyes. “Did ya drink expired milk like I did?” 

“It’s not that, Naruto,” Kakashi-sensei sighed in a stressful manner, “Sakura has just come to a conclusion that took me much too long to get to myself,” he confessed pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“What?” Sasuke demanded. 

“He’s alive.” 

“Who?!” 

“Zabuza, he’s alive,” Kakashi-confessed to everyone else in the room. 

His words were immediately followed by sakura blurting out, “I think I’m gonna be sick.” 

It took a moment for the words to settle and everyone else exploded. “What do you mean by that, Dattebayo?!” Naruto yelled. “We saw his body!” 

“You checked it yourself,” Sasuke added in disbelief. 

“You said his heart stopped,” Tazuna argued, his old feature looking older as he studied the jounin. Tsunami remained quiet where she stood. 

“His heart did stop,but… that was just a temporary state to stimulate death.” 

Sakura looked up with pursed lips, “He used senbon. He aimed for theck. There are no vital organs in the neck, but I’m sure there is a point that causes temporary paralysis that’s why he looked so stiff. I don’t know how he was able to stop the heart through the neck.” 

Kakashi nodded, “Like Sakura said, he used senbon, which are rarely fatal and carried Zabuza’s body away. With this information we can conclude that the Hunter wasn’t trying to destroy Zabuza but save him.” 

Tazuna laughed nervously, “Come on you’re overthinking this aren’t you?” 

“Unfortunately not, Tazuna-san,” Sakura whispered looking out the window at the darkening sky. 

“Encountering suspicion, the ninja prepares quickly. Hesitation leads to disaster, every shinobi knows this saying.” 

Sakura looked over at her teammates and saw Naruto smile. 

_ This boy is actually glad that the bastard is still in the land of the living. He’s suicidal.  _

“Sensei, you said prepare quickly, but how can we do that when you can barely move?” She asked the jounin. 

The man had the audacity to laugh, “I can still train you.” 

Sakura looked at the man wearily,  _ Last minute training? He’s trying to kill us isn’t he?  _

__

_ I didn’t sign up for this. _

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait to write the next chapter, but I’m lazy and tired. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I tried to have Sakura go through her own thought process. Idk.
> 
> We’ll be getting into Kurou’s journal in the next chapter and I’m really looking forward to attempting to do some characterization on a character we will never presently see. 
> 
> I’m thinking of doing a dark Hermione fic. Idk just a thought.
> 
> Anyway take care of yourselves and I’ll see you when I see you.
> 
> -CHOCOHOLIC


	7. Climbing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to get this out. Some people may think, "Oh, December is all about the holidays and stuff, there isn't that much to do!" well from this side, there is. December is the busiest time of the year for myself and my family, I was barely able to squeeze in time to write a little at a time.
> 
> This was meant to be out yesterday but online school is a pain in the ass.

Sakura couldn’t find it in herself to sleep that night. She had taken the corner right beneath the window far enough from her male teammates to feel a false sense of privacy. She laid in stiff silence in her rolled out futon forcing herself not to toss and turn.

She just stared up at the ceiling in quiet annoyance.

She felt as though Kakashi-sensei was being a little careless about the anticipated fight with Zabuza. It scared her. This was meant to be a simple escort mission. Not a suicide mission. She wasn’t meant to die during this mission, but there is a good chance she would be dead by the end of it.

Just like Kuruo.

The thought caused her to tremble.

Kurou died on a mission like this.

She felt sick to her stomach as she sat up in her futon. Biting her lip she reached for her pink backpack. She quietly dug through it making sure to send a glare Naruto’s way when an extra loud snore escaped him.

She grabbed ahold of the Journal and slowly stood up, looking around the room to make sure everyone was still asleep before she slipped through the open window and climbed up onto the roof. She shivered as the cool air brushed against her exposed legs, hugging her cousin’s black hoodie closer to her body she sat on the west side of the roof so she could see the water and half-finished bridge.

She stared at the concrete structure for a moment before sighing.

_ I’m not dying for a stupid bridge. _

_ Does that make me selfish? _

_ Maybe. _

_ Does it make me feel guilty? _

_ Not really. _

Sakura felt her brows crease the longer she stared at the unfinished structure. Her fingers with newly developing calluses traced the Manga covered journal. The cover image had two samurai about to clash.

Her breath hitched when her eyes spotted the familiar messy scrawl that belonged to her cousin. She traced the characters with her finger and she couldn’t keep the lump from her throat.

**May 17**

_ Dear Haha, _

_ You told me once that writing my feelings will make them easier to handle. _

_ They don’t. _

_ You lied. _

_ This is the third time I have tried to write this stupid entry and the only words I can think of are; I hate you,’ and “Why did you leave me?’ _

_ It’s not fair. _

_ This is stupid. _

_ Kurou. _

For a second Sakura was confused as she reread the short entry. Till it slowly dawned on her.

Oh.

**May 28**

_ Dear Haha, _

_ Oji-san has decided to take me with him to The Land of Fire with his new wife. Baba agreed, which is stupid. _

_ I don’t want to go. _

_ Oji-san is weird, his wife is worse. _

_ Kurou. _

Sakura smiled lightly, her father is weird and it’s very much true that her mother is worse. Kurou grew to love it about them.

**June 14**

_ Dear Haha, _

_ Oji-san told me that I’m punishing myself and those around me by being dark and twisty. _

_ Dark and twisty he said.  _

_ Pink haired fucker. _

_ That doesn’t work, I have pink hair too. _

_ Why did you have to be related to him? _

_ Why did I have to be related to him? _

_ Kurou. _

Sakura couldn’t keep in the giggle as she flipped the page to the next entry.

**June 28**

_ Dear haha, _

_ I decided to become a ninja. _

_ I spoke with Hokage and he’ll find me a sensei to help me with an accelerated course of study. Which you and I both know I don’t need. They think just because I trained as Samurai that I’m incompetent in the ways of Shinobi. _

_ That wasn’t the worst part, when I got back home I found Oji-san and Oba-san, NAKED in the living room. _

_ Disgusting. _

_ Absolutely disgusting  _

_ Kurou. _

Sakura grimaced. That was an experience that she and he both shared. Whenever her parents thought they had an inch of privacy they were going at it like rabbits. The worst part was that they were never in their room. No, it was always the couch, the table, the kitchen counter. Absolutely disgusting! She’s surprised she doesn’t have a sibling by now. All those times she and Kurou scrubbed those surfaces raw…

She flipped the page and her small smile fell, this entry was much longer than the rest, in the moonlight she could see the smudged ink beneath the dried tear stains. 

**August 7**

_ Dear Haha, _

_ It’s me again. _

_ Well, I’m not here because I want to be. I’m here because I have no other choice. _

_ A week ago, I killed someone. _

Sakura stopped, her eyebrows twitching. She didn’t understand why it shocked her. Maybe it was because, even though she knew her cousin was a shinobi, she never truly saw him as one. She saw him in his flack jacket and headband and saw the aftermath of some of his missions, but those things never caused her to look at him as anything but her big brother Kurou.

A part of her didn’t want to continue reading, but she forced her eyes back down to look at the brown pages.

_ It wasn’t meant to happen, but there is always room for error when on a mission. It was a simple retrieval mission. That's what it was meant to be. We were going to travel to a village just outside the Mist. We were to collect the information from the informant and leave just as quickly as we came. _

_ I had a feeling like my gut had been twisted into knots, doused in tar and set alight. The feeling that something was going to go wrong. I feel like I should have spoken up. Told my sensei, but couldn’t. _

_ The feeling stuck to me for hours. I should have said something. _

_ I should have. _

_ But it was too late. _

_ He just came out of nowhere, he even caught sensei off guard. _

_ I don’t know how it happened, Haha. _

_ One second I was watching him go after Genma-kun, and the next, I had a katana buried in my shoulder and kunai buried in his throat. There was blood everywhere, on me, the ground, himself. The sound of his choking still rings in my ears. _

_ I killed him, haha, and I felt nothing. _

_ That was the issue. _

Sakura felt herself frown, her fingers tracing his familiar messy scrawl. Feeling how the indentations of the pen grew deeper and deeper as he continued.

_ Apparently, a shinobi’s first kill can be most damaging to the mind. So it’s recommended for them to speak to their superior about it, or they have to see a shinobi certified therapist to help cope with the hardships that come with being a part of the shinobi lifestyle. _

_ I don’t think there's any way to properly justify killing someone. No matter the circumstance. _

_ I was assigned, Yamanaka Inochi. _

Ino-chan’s father. Sakura remembered him very well, a kind-hearted man with a deep fascination with how the mind worked. He worked in interrogation as well. This man could tear apart a mind just as well as he could help put it back together. That thought alone was absolutely terrifying. 

_ This pupilless fucker concluded that I have purposefully blocked my emotions. That I have something that I have yet to let go of. At first, I thought he was full of philosophical bullshit. Then I took a moment and actually thought about it. _

_ I thought really hard, and I realized it was you. _

_ All these roads lead back to you, don’t they? _

_ I remember you once told me that writing how I feel will help me move on. _

_ Let’s see if that actually works, or if you were full of bullshit. _

_ Well, point-blank, I am hurting. _

_ I am in pain and there is nobody else to blame, but you. You put me here. You put me in this position of hate and anger and now I have to unravel myself from this mess. You broke me and now I have to pick up my own pieces. _

_ How is that fair? _

_ Why do I get to suffer and you get to move onto the next greatest adventure? _

_ It hurt, you know? _

_ But it’s not like you care if you hurt me, you stopped caring a long time ago, but I’m telling you now, that it hurts me. _

_ Every day, I walk into the house and I pass by this picture. It sits right above the entrance to the living room. It was you, oji-san and I. Do you remember that day? We had gone to the land of waves and we decided to take a swim. I remember that day like it was yesterday because that was the last day I remember you telling me that you love me. I remember how you cupped my cheeks in your hands, I remember how you kissed me on the forehead, I can still smell the rose perfume you were wearing. I remember how you smiled down at me and how you cooed, “I love you Kuruo.” _

_ What happened, Haha? _

_ When did you stop loving me? _

_ What did I do to make you hate me so much? _

_ I remember all the days that lead up to it, how you just stopped working, how you just stopped being my mother. You were a stranger to me. But, every morning and every evening I still told you that I loved you and all you would do was look at me like you didn’t know me. Yet every day, I would say those words, hoping that you’d one day perk up and smile and say it back. Every day I begged you to say it back, to tell me you loved me back. You never did. _

_ Then you died. _

_ Now I’m alone. _

_ Now I am in pain. _

_ Now I am broken. _

_ There, I wrote down how I feel. _

_ I don’t feel better, I feel worse. _

_ Just like I thought, you’re full of shit. _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Kurou. _

A fresh tear joined the dried ones, having dropped from her cheek. Sakura shut the journal, her throat sore from withholding the tears she wanted to shed. Apparently one forced its way through. Her chest ached for her cousin. Even when he was still alive, seeing him hurting in any way, brought Sakura agony. Reading about it did not lessen the ache in her chest. She sniffled, blinking away the tears. She would not let them fall, no matter how much she wished to.

She sat on the roof in silence staring out at the bridge for a few more moments, before heaving herself to her feet and quietly climbing back down towards the window. She spared a swift glance over her team who were still asleep in their futons, well all of them except Naruto who had ditched him for the comfort of the hardwood floor. Quietly slipping the Journal back into her bag, she settled in her futon and stared out the window, till the soft roar of the sea lulled her into a deep slumber.

That night she dreamt of a man with eyes the colour of sage and hair as pink as a summer sunset. 

_ “Remember, Sakura, It’s you, it’s me..” _

_ “It’s us.” _

_ “Just like it always is.” _

_ “Just like it always will be.” _

Sakura was standing in a forest to the east side of the village. Kakashi-sensei had to lead them there, using a pair of crutches. Sakura thought he was exaggerating his chakra exhaustion. He just exhausted his chakra. She didn’t see him get hit in the lower spine or either leg. Maybe she missed it (though she doubted it). If Sakura really thought that low of her sensei she would have assumed that he was just using the crutches as an excuse not to properly train them.

Of course, Kakashi-sensei wasn’t that lazy.

Right?

She stood off to left, eyes trained on her teacher. “All right, training starts now,” he grinned from beneath his mask. 

Naruto was practically buzzing as he stood there. “Right!”

Kakashi-sensei held up a single finger, “First, we will begin with a review of chakra, the ninja’s basic source of power.”

Sakura tried not to zone out as she stood there. She had heard all of this drivel before in the ninja academy and in all the Chakra books she’s ready over the past month. The fact that she needed to hear this again annoyed her, this whole situation annoyed her.

“Understanding chakra is essential.”

Sasuke seemed to share the same sentiment as he sighed out, “We know that.”

Naruto nodded eagerly, Sakura swears if Naruto had a tale it would be wagging back and forth, right about now. “He’s right! A long time ago we learned about...uh, cattra.”

Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose, “Chakra, Naruto, chakra.”

Kakashi-sensei sighed, “Go ahead, Sakura,” he motioned towards her and she frowned.

Since when did she become the teacher, that was his job. She didn’t voice her displeasure as she thought back and recalled what Iruka-sensei and all the books had taught her in the academy, “Naruto, listen carefully,” she narrowed her eyes at him pausing to make sure he was focused on her. “I’ll explain it in the most elementary way possible-’

“Elementary?”

“She means easy, dobe,” Sasuke jabbed causing naruto to glare at him.

“I knew that!”

“Sure you did dobe.”

“Teme!”

“Naruto, pay attention!” Sakura snapped causing the blonde to snap his mouth shut, with a scowl aimed for the Uchiha who smirked, opening his mouth to once again provoke the Uzumaki. Sakura didn’t give him a chance, “Sasuke...just shut up, your commentary isn’t needed.”

The boy blinked and Naruto cackled at the Uchiha’s soured expression.

The female genin snapped her fingers, drawing Naruto’s attention once again.

Honestly.

“Chakra is the elemental life energy a ninja uses in Jutsu. It’s the source of all their power,” Sakura paused to make sure he got it, when he nodded she continued, she touched both the physical and spiritual aspects, as well as hand signs. With just enough detail to understand the concept, if he wanted to know more he'd have to open a book and Naruto wouldn’t be caught dead with one.

When she was finished regurgitating all that she knew Kakashi-sensei nodded in content, “Right on all points, Iruka-sensei really did have some excellent students.”

Sakura glowered lightly at him.

Overkill. 

Naruto frowned, “What’s the big deal with all these complicated explanations?” He complained. Sakura couldn’t help but sigh.

“The whole point is to learn the jutsu, isn’t it?”

“Naruto’s right for once,” Sasuke agreed.

No, he isn’t, Sakura thought with a shake of her head. How are you meant to do something when you don’t know the process. It’s like baking a cake, if you don’t know the recipe you’ll come out with mush. Or math. If you don’t know the equation how will you know the answer?

She said nothing as he continued to speak, “We’re already using chakra energy in our jutsu.”

Kakashi-sensei on the other hand agreed wholeheartedly with Sakura’s silent opinion, “No. You have not mastered this power. You’ve barely scratched the surface of it.”

“What do you mean!” Naruto bellowed.

Kakashi-sensei sighed, “Calm down,” he huffed, “It’s just like Sakura said. You have to draw on physical and spiritual energies and then combine them within yourself, but... How do you do that? Each Jutsu requires different types of chakra in different proportions. You must select and combine them in exactly the right way. Up to now, you have just guessed the proportions. Even if you produce a lot of chakra unless you can balance and control it, it’s all worthless,’ He sent a look in Naruto’s direction at that, “The jutsu won’t work at all or it'll just be a joke. You waste so much energy that way, Then you’re out of chakra and you can’t fight at all. You’re just a target.”

Naruto blinked, “Uh.., so how do we change that, heh?”

Kakashi-sensei fixed them all with a serious look, “Train so hard that controlling your chakra becomes second nature. To achieve this goal you must be ready to put your life on the line.”   


Sakura tensed at the implication. “What do we have to do?”

He let out a small chuckle, “Climb a tree.”

“Climb a tree?!” All three genin chorused.

“That’s right, but, there is just one rule, no hands.”

Sakura frowned, her eyebrows creasing as she watched him in silence.

“Is this some kind of joke, sensei?” Naruto frowned.

“Am I? Let’s see.” Clasping his hands together in a tiger seal, Kakashi sensei hobbled over to a tree, he looked back at them all with a cheeky look beneath his mask. Then he placed his right foot on the trunk of the tree. Then the other...and he stuck. Like glue.

Naruto let out a gasp at the sight while Sakura watched on with furrowed brows. That’s what he meant. I’ve seen this before. Her eyebrows twitched as she thought back on it, but something was bugging her too much. Abandoning her search for that certain memory she fixed her sensei with an inquiring look as he explained the theory behind what he had shown.

“Wait a minute. That’s a cool flashy trick sensei, but how does it help us fight Zabuza?”

“It’s the only way to fight him, Sakura. That’s the entire goal of this training. First, you’ll learn to draw a precise amount of chakra to a precise part of your body. This is difficult, even for advanced ninja. This is a subtle mix of physical and spiritual energy. And the bottoms of the feet are the most difficult points to focus chakra.”

Sakura reluctantly listened to everything else had to say. It didn’t help her feel any more secure. Okay, so what. They learn chakra control, then what? Will he teach them any other jutsu, or will that be it? If he can, how will that help them against the master that was Zabuza?

Her thoughts ceased when a kunai embedded itself into the ground between her feet. “Use the kunai knife to mark the tree at the highest point you can without using your hands. Then try to get past that mark the next time and the next. At first, you’ll have to run at the tree, so your momentum can take you as high as possible until you get used to it.”

Sakura quietly picked up her kunai, walking towards a tree to the far right. “I’m more than ready! This is gonna be no sweat all the way. Believe it! He pointed at their sensei who had yet to come down from the tree, Sakura ignored the rest, retreating into her own mind as he looked up at the tree.

She had seen this before. When?

_ “Kurou-nii! We need more apples!” A young Sakura giggled as she came running outside the house with and an empty wicker basket in hand.  _

_ Said man looked up from where he lounged at the base of the tree, and raised a pink brow in her direction, “We just took in two baskets, are you sure Katsuki isn’t just eating them all when you weren’t looking?” _

_ Sakura shook her head, “Nope, Baba has sealed his lips shut, and banned him from the kitchens” Sakura snickered, “he kept eating the filling from the pot.” _

_ Kurou shook his head, “Of course, that glutton, with how skinny he is I would have thought he was being starved, that mouth is like a vacuum and his belly like a black hole,” He reluctantly pushed himself to his feet, grabbing the basket from the young girl’s hand as she giggles at the very accurate description of her second favourite cousin. _

_ “If we keep picking all these apples, the tree will have none for itself,’ Sakura commented as she watched him put a foot onto the tree. _

_ “It can make more,” Kurou waved off as his left foot joined his right. Sakura’s mouth dropped as she watched him walk up the tree. _

_ “Say, Kurou-nii?” she called up the tree, standing at its base and looking up at his pack. _

_ “Yes, my dearest Cherry Blossom?” _

_ “How’d you do that?” _

_ “With chakra.” _

_ Sakura frowned and cocked her head, “That thingy you use for jutsu?” _

_ She watched his shoulders shake as he chuckled, “Yes, that thingy I use for jutsu.” _

_ “So you use it to make your feet stick to the tree,” she deduced as he pulled a particularly red apple from one of the branches.  _

_ “Mhm.” _

_ “How does that work?” _

_ “You direct the chakra to your feet and use just the right amount to stick. Not too little or you’ll slip. Nor too much or you’ll be thrown backwards, and maybe break the tree.” _

_ “Breaking the tree doesn’t seem like a smart idea.” Sakura hummed. _

_ “No, it isn’t,” Kurou agreed as he made his way back down. _

_ “That’s Baba’s favourite tree,” She added. _

_ “The old hag would break us for breaking the tree.” _

_ Sakura tsked, “Calling Baba an old hag will do you no favours, she’ll break you for just looking at her wrong.” _

_ “Scary,” Kurou bent down and picked her up, helping her maneuver till she hands her arms wrapped around his shoulders and her leg around his waist, so she was hanging off his back. _

_ “How do you find that right amount of chakra?” _

_ Kurou shrugged as best he could with her hanging off his shoulders as he thought about it, “Well, I figure it out by starting heavy and trying and as the tree cracks removed a bit of chakra and keep going, and if it gets too light and you slip, add more, keep going back and forth till neither happens and remember that amount.” _

_ “Can you teach me how?” Sakura asked eagerly. _

_ “You’re still too small, maybe when you're older.” _

_ She frowned, “That’s too far away!” _

_ “Knowledge comes with time, Sakura-chan.” _

Kakashi watched as two-thirds of his students tackled the task blindly, he turned and focused his gaze on his pink-haired genin, the girl has yet to move as she stared at the tree with a glazed expression. Her hands absentmindedly clasped in the tiger seal. He was about to say something from where he stood until she suddenly started moving.

She raced towards the tree launching herself up and she took her first step. The tree cracked a little. He sighed in slight disappointment and looked away.

Yet sakura kept going, She cursed lightly when she felt the tree crack beneath her foot. So she lessened the amount of chakra she was directing to her feet. On the second step, she slipped. So she added just a bit more. The third step she kept stuck firmly to the tree. A large grin overcame her features as she stopped in place, memorizing that sweet spot, channelling the same amount into her right foot she kept going.

And before she knew it she was at the top of her tree.

Looking down she saw Kakashi-sensei watching Naruto and Sasuke intently and couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. Wanting recognition before her male teammates she called out almost mockingly, “This is fun!”

All three of them snapped their head in her direction and she grinned down at them.

“Well,” Kakashi-sensei hummed in shock, “Looks like the female member of the squad has the most advanced chakra control. Well done, Sakura-chan.”

Sakura couldn’t keep the pride at bay as she stuck out her tongue at her teammates.

“Good job Sakura!” Naruto beamed up at her but even she could see the strain in his smile, “I always knew you were awesome, believe it!”

Sasuke simply glowered in her direction with near dismissal. “Whatever.”

We can’t have that, Sakura thought. “So much for being the number one rookie, huh,” she scoffed, mimicking his look of dismissal.

His glare was like kunai to the side of her face. She refused to let it bother her as she grinned mockingly at him. 

“Well, not only does Sakura understand chakra, she can control and maintain it as well,” Kakashi-sensei smirked beneath his mask, “We spoke about someone becoming Hokage one day, didn’t we? Seems Sakura’s got the best chance of that, wouldn’t you say?” Kakashi sent Naruto a significant look as he spoke.

Both Sakura and Naruto frowned, for completely different reasons.

He turned his attention, towards Sasuke, “And as for the great Uchiha clan, maybe they’re not so great after all.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed sharply and he glared darkly in her direction. It took every bone in her body not to flinch at the dark stare. She quickly averted her eyes and glared at her sensei, “Shut up sensei!”

She didn’t like what he was doing. She didn’t like it all. She didn’t like the fact that her achievements are being used as fuel to burn a fire of competition between the people she’s meant to eventually trust with her life. That only leads to jealousy. Which leads to resentment, which leads to someone getting hurt. She doesn’t need that.

“You talk too much.”

_ You’ll get me killed. If you do I swear I’m haunting your ass. _

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I decided not to give an exposition dump when it comes to Kurou bar his own words within the journal. Basically we're reading as he goes from this angry boy to the man Sakura comes to know as her brother of sorts. It's crap but I'm trying. I plan to add more as we continue, but we won't be seeing the journal again in maybe the next two to three chapters.
> 
> Anyway if you enjoyed this, leave a kudos and a comment.
> 
> I published another Naruto book if you want to check it out.  
> Yes, yes it is another Shikamaru story.  
> Do I care?  
> Nope.  
> I love that lazy man.
> 
> -CHOCOLEX


	8. Hypothetically

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, people new chapter for your asses. Enjoy.

“You will be escorting Tazuna-san to the bridge, after breakfast,” Kakashi sensei said from across the Sakura, barely looking up from his glorified porn to address her. The pink-haired genin was the only one of the three to master the tree walking exercise and was the only one to sit down for breakfast. 

“Will you becoming?” Sakura asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

Kakashi-sensei shook his head, “Nope, someone needs to make sure those two don’t kill themselves.”

“But...Kakashi-sensei, I’m barely qualified to guard Tazuna on my own,” She protested.

“You did just fine on our way here,” Kakashi-sensei refuted.

“But-”

“But, nothing, when he is ready to leave you’ll join him, or I’ll double your laps to sixteen,” He threatened with a closed-eyed smile. Sakura eyed him wearily before huffing in defeat, looking down at the bland porridge Tsunami was able to provide that morning.

“How is this little girl meant to protect me?” Tazuna jabbed and Sakura was quick to scowl in his direction.

“Last I checked, Mr. Tazuna, I’m the one who protected you when the first two ninjas attacked,” She reminded with a toothless smile.

Kakashi-sensei nodded, looking back down at his book, “Sakura-chan is perfectly capable of protecting you, Tazuna-san. I’m sure nothing will go wrong.”

The old man grumbled knowing he had no other choice. “Fine, whatever.”

When she and Tazuna were due to leave, Kakashi-sensei handed Sakura chakra activated flares. Her stomach churned uncomfortably. Threatening to heave up the bland porridge.

“Green is for danger. Red is for when you’re returning so we know nothing went amiss. Yellow is only meant to be fired after green if the danger has been eliminated,” He explained with a close eyed smile. 

Sakura frowned, “Isn’t red meant to be for danger?” She asked wearily. 

Kakashi tilted his head, his lips twitching beneath his mask. “On normal occasions, yes. But, just in case of actual danger, it can throw off any enemies lurking. I can catch them by surprise.”

That didn’t reassure her in the slightest. 

“So when I launch the green flare, you’ll come to assist me?”

Kakashi-sensei patted her on the head with a closed-eyed smile. “Of course I will Sakura-chan.

~~~~~

Yamanaka Ino was sure her lazy teammate was sick. Though it was very unlikely, Shikamaru did not get sick. It seemed to be some sort of unspoken rule between him and his body. He just didn’t do it. He just refused to get sick.

Which is why he looked at her like she had lost a few brain cells when she reached out to lay a hand against his forehead asking, “Are you sick or something?”

The Nara was not amused as he hastily slapped her hand away from him, “I don’t get sick. Don’t touch me.”

Ino sat back on her heels with a small scowl, “I was just asking,” she huffed

Shikamaru barely glanced up from the book in his hands,” You can ask without touching me,” he huffed, turning the page of the book.

A book.

A book?

Shikamaru didn’t read, with how long she had known the young Nara, which was practically her whole life, she can count all the occasions Shikamaru held a book between his palms on one hand and still be left with change. He didn’t read because he didn’t need to. One glance at something and he had it ingrained in his mind forever. He learned from observing. Not reading. 

“Then how would I know if you were lying?”

Choji spoke up from where he laid, Shikamaru having been using his as a backrest, as the Akimichi dug his way through a bag of salt and vinegar chips. The poor boy had taken to sulking when he finished his favourite BBQ chips. “It’s common knowledge that Shika doesn’t get sick, Ino-chan.”

“Everyone gets sick,” Asuma-sensei said from a tree down to the left, enjoying the air after a heavy lunch.

“Shikamaru doesn’t get sick,” Choji replied.

“Why is that?”

Shikamaru sighed as he snapped the book closed, glowering at nothing in particular, “It’s too troublesome, so I just don’t do it.”

Asuma-sensei fixed his most promising student with a look, “You don’t get sick, because it’s quote on quote,” Troublesome”?”

“Yeah, so?”

Asuma-sensei sighed, “I’m investing in a breathalyzer,” he grumbled as he sat up from his slumped position, “What are you reading?”

Shikamaru frowned, cushioning his head on Choji’s chubby belly. “The Art of War.”

Asuma raised an eyebrow, “The Art of War? Where’d you get a book like that?”

“The banshee gave it to me,” He hummed, his eyes slipping closed as he absentmindedly hugged the book to his chest. 

“Banshee?” Ino asked in confusion.

“That’s rude, Shika,” Choji was able to reprimand through mouthfuls of chips. “Sakura-san may be loud but she isn’t that bad.”

Ino’s brain short-circuited as the name bounced around in her skull. 

“She isn’t that loud,” Shikamaru confessed, none of them realizing how quiet their own Banshee had become. “At least not anymore.”

Ino was finally able to find her voice as she looked at Shikamaru with a sneering expression, “Why would Forehead give you a book?” she asked in fake distaste. Shikamaru opened a single lazy eye. 

Having known Ino for as long as he could remember, it was easy to read her expression and the tone of her voice. She tried to sound disgusted, disinterested, angry even. But she couldn’t keep him from detecting the slight jealousy and sincere inquiry beneath. That’s how it has always been since the day she and Sakura had “broken up”, so to speak because of their mutual love of Uchiha Sasuke. 

He remembers how she stormed into the Nara compound in search of her father, only to break down in tears when she saw him.

_ “She hates me now, Papa! Sakura hates me!” She screeched. _

Though he never planned to ask, he was quite sure Sakura’s reaction to the event had been similar but more subdued. Sakura may have been loud, but during the early years in the academy, the girl had been as quiet as a mouse. The only loud thing about her being her obnoxious pink.

He smirked lazily, “Apparently your dearest Forehead wants to be my friend.”

He watched Ino’s face turn several shades of red as she glowered at him, he watched as a vein bulged in her neck as she tried not to screech in anger.”Why would Sakura want to be friends with you?! You’re lazy and boring a-and oblivious!” She hissed. “Maybe it’s just a plot to get Sasuke jealous!”

Shikamaru raised an amused eyebrow, though he will admit he felt a small amount of offence. He’s a good friend. He thinks. He refused to ask if he was, he didn’t necessarily need the validation. Choji’s constant presence in his life was good enough. He didn’t bother to respond as he slumped against his best friend. Ino can make up all the conspiracy theories she wants. A part of him, the petty childish side, wanted to befriend Sakura just to spite Ino. He reconsidered it immediately, though Sakura confused him at times, being nearly impossible to read, he realized that one of the many reasons she asked for friendship because she was lonely.

He could sometimes see it in her expression when she thought he was sleeping. How her face would just crumple as she got lost in thought, and how she would just curl up into herself, for what seemed like hours before she realized she wasn’t alone. Then the perky expression she nearly always held would slip back on like a glove. He was sure she didn’t know she was doing it half the time.

He remembered in the academy, about three years ago, she was absent for almost two weeks and when she came back, she looked like nothing had happened. Her expression was light and airy, happy. The expression annoyed him to no end. It felt off. Her face said ‘I’m fine” but her eyes screamed the opposite.

His thoughts screech to a halt. Damn, he paid a lot more attention to people than he liked to admit. 

Shikamaru scowled and sat up abruptly causing Ino to recoil in shock at his sudden energized movement. “Troublesome!” he groaned in annoyance as he opened the book once again.

_ You wanted to be friends? Fine! Troublesome woman. _

  
  


~~~~~~~

Sakura sneezed mid-stretch, her nose tingling uncomfortably. Sighing she squatted down to pick up A sack of gravel that was going to be mixed into concrete. She put the heavy sack partially over her shoulder. It felt like indirect training and she was happy to do it. Having added more chakra to weights to make them heavier. As far as she was concerned she didn’t have the luxury of skipping out on a day.

She had made so much progress she wasn’t about to give that up now.

_ I’ve learned to walk on trees. Which is a solid structure. Naturally, the next thing is to learn to walk on water. _

_ The question is: should I ask sensei to show me? Or should I figure it out myself? _

Sakura quietly observed as she made her way with the sack to the unfinished end of the bridge where Tazuna was busy mixing concrete, having an animated conversation with two men who volunteered to help finish the bridge.

“This is the last one, Tazuna-san,” she hummed as she dropped the sack amongst the other dozen.

Tazuna and the two men looked in her direction, her client grunted, “Good to know you ain’t that useless.”

It took everything in Sakura not to flinch at the word useless. Instead, she fixed him with a disgruntled expression, “I could say the same for your liver Tazuna-san.”

The two men let out simultaneous snorts, Tazuna quietly rolled his eyes in amusement, “Well played, girly.”

“Let me guess, you’re off the Haruno clan, correct?” One of the men who stood with Tazuna grunted.

Sakura smiled brightly, “You would be correct,” she looked the man up and down for a moment, studying his features. From his sandal-clad feet to his loose-fitted grey pants, up to his black shirt, and the large deep blue trench coat, with hundreds of pockets. From his attire, she looked at his face and physique. He was tall, taller than Kakashi-sensei. It made Sakura pout lightly, and sure she wasn’t the shortest of her group, the title being Naruto's, Kakashi made her feel like a dwarf. This man made the feeling worse. He was bulky, all muscle and heavy bones. His face was all angles. Sharp cheekbones, and a chiselled chin. His eyes were a deep murky blue, but what really drew Sakura’s attention was the colour of his hair.

It was bright neon green.

“You are of the Zorome clan?” She asked and the man's expression perked up.

“Kin recognizes Kin,” He smirked, holding out a large hand for Sakura to shake, which the girl did eagerly. “Zorome Aoki,” he introduced, motioning towards the other man, who looked almost exactly like Aoki, only shorter and lanky. “That my little brother Zorome Akiara,” the younger of the two men remained quiet as he waved. 

“I’m Haruno Sakura, nice to meet you.”

Aoki’s eyebrows shot up as he released her hands, “Ah,” he turned to look at his brother who held a matching look of surprise and Sakura lets loose a squeak when they both dropped into a respectful bow.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“Showing respect to a princess of course, what else?”

“I’m not a princess!” Sakura denied shuffling away from the two brothers.

Aoki raised an eyebrow, he and his brother rising from “Isn’t your grandmother Haruno Ichika?”

Sakura hesitated, “yes.”

“Then you’re a princess,” Aoki pointed out with a smug little smile and Sakura rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

She then turned her attention towards her client, “I’ll be heading down by the shore, not too far, I’ll be within calling distance if you need me,” She turned to the two brothers bowing in respect, a small incline at the hips,” It was nice to meet the blood of my blood.”

Akoi smiled, “May spring continue blooming beneath your fingertips,” he stated, laying his right palm above his heart.

Sakura brightened, mirroring his stance she responded, “And may your forests remain evergreen.”

The two brothers looked content as they went to take their leave, but the younger of the two stopped, Akiara looked severe as he fixed Sakura with heavy murky blue eyes, “We are not the only ones with the blood of iron wandering through their veins,” he warned and Sakura frowned. “He no longer looks like his people once did, but his blood is the same as yours and as mine, Keep your ears and eyes open Hime-chan.”

With that both brothers left to help with construction, leaving Sakura in stunned silence. 

“The hell was that?” Tazuna grunted as he watched the brothers leave. 

“A clan issue.” or better yet, a family matter.

Sakura stood staring down at the rippling water, “Okay, Sakura,” she hummed to herself as she tilted her head back to look up at the looming unfinished bridge. Forcing herself to look back down at the next milestone she nodded in determination. You’ve climbed a tree, how hard can it be to walk on water.

Sakura channelled chakra into her the soles of her feet, the same amount she used to climb a tree the day before. And she took a step and fell headfirst into the water, the cold slamming into her like a chakra filled kick. Shoving herself up and out of the freezing water, she spluttered.

_ Okay! _

_ Not as easy. Noted. _

Dripping wet, Haruno glared at the water as she slowly unfastened the weight on her calves, dropping them onto the ground beneath her she winced when they sunk several meters into the wet clay.

Turning to glare at the water definitely, “I will make you my bitch.”

So she tried again as her mind ran through several theories. Maybe I should try a lighter hand of chakra. Nope. Nope, Nope. Kami, why is the water so goddamn cold?! SPluttering once again she heaved herself onto damp land, whining at the ache within her nostrils.

“Ow!”

Grumbling she stood back up and decided to use a heavy-handed approach, channelling a lot more chakra into the soles of her feet. She hesitated for a moment before taking a step off the shore, her foot went straight through dragging her back below the surface of the water, sending her several more metre deeper than before. It was funny how the water wasn’t as shallow as she had thought. Releasing the chakra she swam up to the shore and found herself seated watching the water with a disgruntled expression.

_ Okay, Sakura, think. _

“You’re doing it wrong, Hime-chan,” Sakura shot up to her feet, kunai in hand pointed at the person who startled her. Before her eyes registered on the person in front of her, she almost thought that it was one of the Zorome brothers. Instead, standing in front of her was the prettiest boy she had ever seen. It made an irrational piece of her rage in jealousy.

“Who are you?”

The boy smiled a small pretty smile. Pretty and fake. She had seen that smile several times before looking in the mirror., “Me? I’m Haku and you are Hime-chan.”

“How do you know that?”

“I heard you on the other two on the bridge,” he answered simply, his wide brown eyes piercing. Sakura knew he was lying. He was never on the bridge. She would have seen him. Her memory may not be in the same tier as Shikamaru’s but it was up there. She prided herself on it. 

If he wasn't on the bridge, her eyes flickered towards the unfinished structure, maybe he was under it.

“You don’t believe me, “ he observed, slowly pushing his long chocolate brown hair from his face. He looked at her for a long moment, “good, trusting too easily gets people killed.”

Sakura tensed, shifting into an offensive stance, “What do you want?”

“Nothing.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I really like your hair,” he hummed, “It’s my favourite colour,” He smiled lightly as he changed the flow of the conversation. As if the girl in front of him wasn’t prepared to attempt gutting him. “Do you want to know why?”

Tilting her head Sakura humoured him, “Why?”

“It was my best friend’s favourite colour,” He smiled softly taking a seat on the ground. Motioning for Sakura to do the same. She did, reluctantly still ready to spring away at any chance.

Sakura frowned, “What happened to this friend?”

His smile turned sombre, “She did what many people in life do. She moved on and forgot. But I remember. I always remember.”

“Did it hurt?” Sakura asked the boy.

He frowned, “Did what hurt?”

“Being forgotten?”

He paused in thought, his eyes glazing over in silent anguish, and Sakura felt her guard drop slightly at the sight, quietly moving closer, “It felt as though I had died,” he said after a long moment of silence. 

“They say people die twice,” Sakura said quietly, “Once when you leave this world and another when the last person who remembers you does the same,” she paused her eyes meeting his overwhelmingly sad brown ones, “That’s a lie, isn't it? People forget each other every day. We die multiple times in a lifetime, every time a person forgets us.”

“Then I have died hundreds of times already? That’s a depressing thought,” Haku said lightly looking off into the distance.

“Why are you here, Haku?”

“I saw you struggling.”

“I’m training.”

He tilted his head, “You were failing.”

Sakura scowled at the boy in the offence, “Failure is not the opposite of success, it's a part of it.”

“Wise words Hime-chan, would you like me to help you? Or would you rather I leave?”

Sakura’s face tensed, she would rather get help then waste her time trying to get it right like her two other teammates. “I would rather you help me, but I want you to answer my question honestly. Why are you here Haku?”

The boy hesitated, “When one finds themselves lonely, it becomes second nature to find comfort in fleeting company.’

Sakura stared at him for a long moment. “Okay, what am I doing wrong?”

He sent her a pretty smile, “You’re looking at it wrong, you look at the water as if it is a flat solid surface. It isn’t. Water has a mind of its own. It’s never still, it’s constantly moving.”

Sakura facepalmed, “You mean that instead of trying to keep an even amount of chakra, I should have it constantly fluctuating. The exact opposite from tree walking.”

Haku hummed with a small amused smile, “So far you’ve been trying to stick to the water's surface like glue. Water isn’t an adhesive. You have to think of it as a constantly shifting floor, you adjust your balance as it moves, correct?” Sakura nodded, “Instead of just adjusting your balance you adjust the chakra to match the changing depth of water.”

“That makes so much sense!” Sakura exclaimed as she eagerly stood up to try it.

Looking down at the water she quietly studied the pattern of the rising tied. Closing her eyes she slowly held out her right foot above the water and willed her chakra to mimic the push and pull of the water. When she was sure she had it, she stepped forward and much to her delight, her foot did not fall through. Her brow furrowing in concentration she slowly placed her weight onto her right foot, her left lifting off the ground. 

Stepping out with her left she hesitated as placed her weight. She felt like a toddler as waddle along the water, trying to make it to the opposite bank without falling through.

She squealed happily when her foot met the solid ground. “I did it!” She turned around, “Haku! I did-”

He was no longer there and Sakura tried to push away the twinge of disappointment that came abruptly with his absence. It felt familiar almost. Like she had this same feeling before. The feeling of losing a friend forever.

It wasn’t like losing Ino. No, that feeling was one of anguish. One of losing family. Because that's what they were. Sisters. Family.

Frowning she looked down, forcing the feeling to the back of her mind, she began practising, till the sun began to set.

“C’mon, girly! We’re calling it a day!”

“Coming!” 

Sakura was quick to gather her things, joining Tazuna and the other retiring volunteers on the bridge. Akio, who was standing by the old bridge builder, grinned at the sight of her, “Did you have a nice swim, Hime-chan?”

Sakura matched it with one of her own, “Yes, very much so.” Taking in his sweaty appearance she asked, “I’m sure your labour has bred fruit, Zorome-san?”

The man chuckled lightly, “You mean the extra four metres of meat we’ve put into this monster, then yes. It bore much fruit.”

With a content humm, Sakura pulled the red flare from her bag, activating it with chakra she shot it into the air watching it glow a bright obnoxious red as it travelled. 

She turned to the old bridge builder, “Ready to go?”

The man nodded with a grunt, and they set off. 

Sakura waving goodbye to the Zororme brothers. 

Halfway back to the house, a blur of movement had Sakura leaping in front of Tazuna, Kunai in hand her Green eyes trained keenly on the person only to slump, “What are you doing Kakashi-sensei?”

The Copy-Cat ninja stopped in his tracks, his tense shoulders slumping, “You’re okay!”

Sakura cocked a brow, “Why wouldn’t we be?”

He blinked at her, “The red flare.”

Sakura’s eyes narrowed, “you said red for safe return!”

Kakashi-sensei let out a nervous laugh as his student’s expression slowly grew livid and horrified, “I did, didn't I?”

Sakura swelled with barely suppressed rage, “So hypothetically,” the pink-haired genin started, “If I had shot the green flare when I was in trouble, you wouldn’t have shown up?”

Kakashi-sensei hesitated, the look on his cute little genin’s face was enough to make him try and choose his words carefully. When he didn’t come up with a response he decided to purse his lips shut.

His silence obviously wasn’t the way to go. He watched as his student twitched. “Hypothetically, you can answer. I won’t get mad.”

Kakashi-sensei hesitated once again, his eyes flicking towards Tazuna was staring at him without pity, He looked at his genin who was staring at him expectantly with darkened green eyes. 

“Hypothetically?”

“Hypothetically!” Her voice rose a few octaves.

Kakashi-sensei winced, “Hypothetically?” He asked once again for clarification.

“Hypothetically!” her voice cracked.

“No?”

Sakura scowled and stared up at him silently. Her thoughts spiralling rapidly.  _ If I was attacked, I could have died. If I was attacked. I could have died. I would have been ripped to pieces. I would have died. I would be dead. What colour of pink-my mother-my father-I would have-! I could-! Kurou! Kurou died. I’d be dead like Kurou-dead. Dead and gone. Dead. Dead. DEAD. DEAD! LIKE KUROU! DEAD!DEAD!JUST LIKE HIM. _

She didn’t say anything as she stared up at her sensei

_ DEAD. _

_ DEAD. _

_ DEAD. _

Ignoring her sensei she turned on her heel and began marching her way back toward the house. Tazuna looked at Kakashi with wide eyes as he followed after Sakura.

~~~~~~~

It became apparent that Sakura was ignoring Kakashi-sensei later on in the evening as she quickly disappeared into the kitchen to help Tsunami-san with dinner. 

Tazuna let loose a raspy laugh at the expression that crossed the young Sensei’s face, “You messed up with that one.”

Naruto looked up from where he sat at the table, pale from chakra exhaustion, Sasuke sat silently across from him, eyes drooping in exhaustion. “Why is Sakura-chan mad at you, sensei?”

“Maa, she’s just overreacting,” Kakashi-sensei waved off scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. His words were immediately followed by a knife being launched from the kitchen straight at his head. Kakashi simply cocked his head to the side, missing it by an inch. He raised a visible eyebrow and looked towards the kitchen in shock for a moment, obviously not expecting such a violent response from his student.

It seems his cute little genin wasn't very happy with him.

Tazuna raised a mocking eyebrow, “Is she really, overreacting?”

“Maa, maybe not.”

“What did you do?”

Kakashi tilted his head, “It’s not what I did, it’s what could have happened.”

“Hypothetically!” Sakura scoffed loudly from the kitchen.

“Hypothetically?” Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Kakashi-sensei nodded scratching the back of his neck, “Hypothetically.”

“What is this hypothetical situation?” Tsunami asked curiously as she came out with a dish of egg fried rice.

“Me and the old man dead, that's what.” Sakura scowled as came out with a dish of stew.

“You’re being mean, Sakura,” Kakashi warned as they all took a seat at the table, Tsunami-san going up to call down her son.

Sakura sent him a scathing look, “Well, being mean is better than being dead,” she snapped.

Kakashi-sensei raised a brow at her tone, it wasn’t playful like he was normally used to when she was jokingly insulting him. No, his cute little genin seemed genuinely upset with him. Upset with him for something that hadn’t happened. 

“Sakura, nothing happened, you’re blowing this out of proportion.”

He watched his pink-haired genin bristle, her jaw clenching, an expression he had never seen before overcoming her features. She turned her attention away from him, her lips twitching. 

“Sakura,” he tried again drawing her reluctant gaze towards him, “Nothing happened,” he said once again. Sakura looked green like she was about to puke as she registered what he was saying. “Nothing,” he repeated reassuringly. “Nothing was going to happen.”

Sakura’s eyes narrowed as she looked at him, “Anything could have happened.”

“But it didn’t.”

“That’s not good enough!” She snapped as Tsunami-san and Inari came down the stairs. 

“Sakura-.”

“He died!” she snapped, “He died on a mission like this and I can’t help but feel that I may just follow, with the way things are going!” With that she stood from her spot and ran up the stairs past Tsunami-san and Inari, her pink hair flying behind her.

The room was quiet as they stared at the spot, Sakura had just sat. 

“At least one of you isn’t stupid,” Inari huffed as he sat down to eat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There wasn't any action in this chapter, but I hope you enjoyed her brief interaction. I also hope you liked how Shikamaru sees Sakura because we haven't seen much of his thoughts of her. Next chapter we'll see more of Haku and Sakura's interaction as well as the Zorome brothers, and learn more about the Haruno clan. Maybe more about Sakura's grandmother and some action thrown in there.
> 
> anyway, leave a kudos and comment. I like comments.


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